. 






THE PASTOR. 



PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 



EXPERIENTIA D0CEN8, DOCET, DOCUIT. 



BY 

RT. EEY. GREGORY THURSTON BEDELL. D.D. 

BEDELL PROFESSOR OF PASTORAL THEOLOGY IX THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 

OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE 

DIOCESE OF OHIO. 



CLEVELAND : 

WILLIAM W. WILLIAMS 

1883. 




3& 



Copyright, 1883, by William W. Williams. 



West. Res. Hist. Soc. 
1915 



TO 

THE MEMORY 

OF 

MT FATHEK. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



Experientia docens, docet, docuit. 

This Book gives the results of experience. It is 
nothing if it is not that. It is a history rather than 
a didactic essay. It is to be read between the lines as 
a memoir of a most happy Pastoral experience; for 
every principle recommended has been tested, and 
every method proposed has been tried. Nor is any- 
thing suggested for adoption that has not been found 
to be successful. The experience of nearly nineteen 
years of Pastoral life has been carefully measured, by 
the experience of other Pastors studied during twenty 
years of - Episcopal life. The latter is a perpetual review 
of . the former. If it cannot remedy, it can sometimes 
prevent a repetition of errors ; and in this lies its ad- 
vantage. Those happy early days — sixteen years in 
the Church of the Ascension, New York, and nearly 
three years previous in the Church of the Holy 
Trinity, West Chester, Pennsylvania — furnished 'an 
experience of Pastoral care somewhat remarkable for 
its variety and breadth : and I have been repeating the 
story of it for sixteen years, year by year, to successive 
classes of Theological Students in Bexley Hall, the 
Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the Diocese of Ohio. So that this Book 

1* 5 



6 AD VER TI SEME NT. 

has been in preparation for some years longer than 
Horace deemed necessary. Whatever may be its de- 
ficiencies, it does not lack the " limse labor." 

My students have listened with apparent interest. I 
give them due credit for patience. They have fre^ 
quently requested me to put the lectures into a per- 
manent form as a Book. I now comply with their 
request, hoping that the suggestions which follow may 
not lose interest in their eyes, because it has not been 
possible for me to include all those personal reminis- 
cences which flavored them in the lecture- room, or all 
those comparisons of opinion which added zest to the 
half-hours after lecture. 

In writing such a Book it is not possible to avoid 
egoism, which, as I suppose, is a euphemism of these 
later days, for what in my younger days we used to 
know as egotism. I realize the danger. Indeed ex- 
perience, if it is to be valuable to others, must be per- 
sonal. How can any man tell the story of other men's 
experience ? But personal experience is my experience. 
To give to it the form of impersonality is not only to 
take frpm it freshness and force, but to savor of affecta- 
tion. I have preferred an occasional risk of egotism 
to the slightest shadow of a shade of affectation. 

Experience which has anything to teach may hope 
to be useful as a teacher. I hope for the usefulness of 
this Book the rather because the experience which it 
records has taught me. 

JExperientia docens, doeet, docuit. 



CONTENTS. 



i. 

ii. 



PAGE 

Advertisement 5 

Prelimin aey : prerequisites for the study . . 9 

Introduction. Part I. The source of Clerical 

influence ■ . . . . . .15 

Part II. Clerical Character . . . .25 

Suggestions : for Teachers . . . .42 

Pastoral Theology, defined . . . .45 

The Pastor's Office 48 



PAPxT I. INSTRUCTION. 

III. The Pastor Catechising. The History, Value 

and Duty of Catechising 

IV. Analysis and Explication of the Catechism 

V. Mode of Catechising ...... 

VI. The Pastor preparing for Confirmation 
its Importance . . ... 

VII. History, Authority, and Intention of Confirma 
tion ... ... 

VIII. The Candidates . 

IX. Qualifications and Tests .... 

X. Instruction following the Rite . 
XI. Helps to the Confirmed ..... 

XII. The Pastor Preaching. History and Value 
of Preaching ...... 

XIII. Object and Method 

XIV. The Subject of Preaching .... 
XV. What are not its Topics .... 

XVI. Its Power ....... 

XVII. The Matter of Preaching .... 

XVIII. Style and Language ..... 



57 

76 
90 

102 

109 
131 
154 

170 
192 

203 
225 
237 

251 
261 
270 

277 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 



Written or Extemj)ore .... 
Species and Characteristics of Sermons 
Choice and Treatment of Texts 
Preparation for Preaching . 
The Pastor in Social Instruction. 
Importance, Advantages, and Methods 



PAGE 

297 
316 
337 
354 

367 



PAKT II. ADMINISTBATION. 

XXIV. A Pastoral Charge: its Limits and Extent 385 

The Pastor administering by Sacraments 388 

XXY. The Pastor Visiting ; its Advantages . 389 

XXVI. The Difficulties 400 

XXVII. Practical Hints 406 

XXVIII. The Pastor treating various cases of 

RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE .... 434 

XXIX. Treatment of Cases 441 

XXX. Treatment of Cases 461 

XXXI. Treatment of Cases 473 

XXXII. The Pastor in his Sunday-Schools : his 

Relations and Responsibilities . . . 485 

XXXIII. Objects and Method 501 

XXXIV. The Pastor's direction of Activities . 517 
XXXV. The Pastor's Parochial Administration : 

Parochial Relations ..... 537 

XXXVI. Parochial Duties . .... 553 



PAKT III. DISCIPLINE. 

XXXVII. The Pastor exercising Discipline . . 571 
The Pastor a Gentleman. 

Manners maketh Man .... 583 

Conclusion 594 



PRELIMINARY. 



The announcement of our theme is Evangelical. 
The very idea of Pastorship is significant of the 
Gospel. No other religion than that of Christ ab- 
sorbs all ideas of ministration within the idea of 
Pastorship, and concentrates the thoughts of its min- 
istry upon Pastoral care. Its Divine Author, their 
Divine Exemplar, presents himself as the Shepherd 
of his flock. He has left no more attractive portrait 
of himself than as one going forth before his Sheep, 
guiding them into green pastures, guarding them from 
wolves, carrying the lambs in his bosom, gently lead- 
ing the mothers whose young ones gambol at their 
sides, folding the flock within safe bounds, and, when 
the necessity has arisen, willingly giving his life for 
the Sheep. Such a picture covers every feature of a 
Gospel ministry. The idea of Pastorship is not only 
essential to it, but it is the whole of it. Teaching, ad- 
ministration and discipline, indeed all the offices of the 
ministry, and all its functions, are included under this 
term. 

Christ calls his ministers to be Pastors of his flock. 
Therefore before entering on the work of the ministry, 
it is necessary to become familiar with those principles 
which ought to guide Pastoral care, and which secure 
success in it. 



10 PRELIMINARY. 

Such is the general subject of the following treatise. 

For a successful prosecution of the study of Pastoral 
Theology three conditions are required on the part of 
a student : 

1. A theoretical knowledge of Theology. 

2. An experimental knowledge of religion. 

3. A degree of practical knowledge of human nature. 

1. A theoretical knowledge of Theology. — The stu- 
dent should have a clear apprehension of the system of 
divine truth; or in another form — his knowledge of 
divine truth should be systematized. He should know 
not only what is truth, but what are the different parts 
of revealed truth, and the relations of the several parte in 
the divine system. A man who is to fight such a battle 
for God must thoroughly understand his weapons, their 
point, their edge, their temper, their endurance. Under- 
standing them, he can hopefully handle them ; he can 
enter upon the practice of this sword exercise — the cut, 
the thrust, the parry, the guard of " the sworcl of the 
Spirit." The Word is the Pastor's only weapon. A true 
Theology puts Urn in entire possession of it. Then 
Pastoral Theology teaches him at what sins a truth 
may be aimed, what virtues it will sustain, what diffi- 
culties it will relieve, what errors it will demolish. 
The successful student will know the length of the 
blow which any particular truth will give, without 
coming into collision with other truths ; when to trans- 
fer himself from an exhausted to a fresh truth ; when 
a verity will parry a blow, and when it will give a 
blow that shall divide asunder joints and marrow, and 
discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 



PRE RE Q UISI TES. 1 1 

Evidently, unless a student possesses the information 
which is to be applied, he will vainly study the science 
of its application. A knowledge of systematic Divinity 
is therefore pre-supposed. 

2. An experimental knowledge of religion. — The 
student is supposed to be a Christian ; but more than 
that, a spiritual minded Christian. 

Nor is this all. A student in Pastoral Theology 
ought to have attained the rank of an experienced 
Christian. Not a novice; he should have made 
some good degree of progress in the Christian life. 
For he is to study methods of dealing with souls in 
all stages of spiritual education. How can he under- 
stand the true value or use of these methods if his ex- 
perience is confined to the first stage, if he himself be 
merely in the childhood of religious life? A good 
degree of religious experience is therefore pre-supposed. 

3. A degree of practical knowledge of human nature. 
— The Pastor is to deal with men. Humanity as it is, 
is the arena of all his conflicts and his victories. Men 
of all characters, in all positions, amidst all circum- 
stances, are to feel his influence. They come to him 
for guidance; or he is to volunteer his service. He is 
to be in turn, preacher, teacher, counsellor, comforter, 
father, brother, friend. The Pastor must therefore be 
a whole man, and wholly a man ; thoroughly versed in 
the intricacies of human composition, and the windings 
of human life. Consequently one who is studying 
how to become such a Pastor, must already in some 
degree understand that nature with which he is to 
deal. Our science takes cognizance of all sides of that 
strange character which is known as man ; men, women, 



12 PRELIMINARY. 

and children ; the hard and the coarse in nature, the re- 
fined and gentle, the considerate and the selfish, the 
good and the wicked; proud, humble, open sinners; 
profligate, vile, secretly profane, the hypocritical ; and 
the virtuous. No man can pursue the study of this 
science with profit to whom the existence of these 
varieties of character is merely a theory. Some ex- 
perience in life and some familiarity ivith human nature, 
are therefore pre-supposed. 

The study of Pastoral Theology is usually placed at 
a late date in a seminary course in order that these con- 
ditions may be realized. Most of our readers have 
doubtless seen much of life. Some may have struggled 
with difficulties, and looked the hard sides of human 
nature closely in the face ; perhaps, too, they may have 
warmed their hearts beside its genial generosity. Na- 
ture yields her knowledge very readily to one who 
struggles for it. She is never taciturn except to those 
who do not take the trouble to force her to speak. All 
have reached an age when even small powers of obser- 
vation or reflection must have produced a somewhat 
practical character. 

Having studied Theology theoretically, no deficiency 
of theological information in our readers, is to be feared. 

All our students are children of God by faith in 
Jesus Christ : and probably all have attained to a good 
degree in a religious life. Yet at this point the chief 
anxiety of a Teacher of this science will arise. 

A danger springs from the spirit of secularization 
even whilst one is pursuing studies of a Theological 
Seminary. Familiarity with the science of religion is 
very apt to cause religion itself to degenerate into mere 



PRE RE q VISIT ES. \ 3 

science. Time absorbed in studying the literature or 
theory of the Bible, is apt to be stolen from the practical 
application of its teachings. Satan is very subtle. We 
are very weak. Watchfulness and prayer indeed are 
niightv. But there is not always as much watchful- 
ness and prayer within a Seminary , and especially with- 
in our own rooms in it, as we intended to carry there, 
or know to be needed. And yet in preparing for the 
Pastoral work, we need the same spiritual qualifications 
which we shall require for the discharge of it. The 
soul must be consecrated to Christ ; must be absorbed 
with the love of souls for whom Christ died. And in 
order to this, a student must have a real experience of 
the love of Christ to himself, be satisfied that his re- 
generation was that which the baptismal sign signified, 
a new T birth by the power of the Holy Ghost, that hav- 
ing been made partaker of the spiritual nature, he is 
enjoying a peace which flows from undoubting faith in 
God's covenant through Christ. Personal religion in 
this student is not to be a theory, but an affection, a 
feeling, a life. Love for the work, springing out of 
gratitude and love for the Master, is the essential ele- 
ment of successful study for it, just as that love in- 
tensified — as it burned in the Saviour's own bosom — is 
to be the real element of success in practising it. 

Let this question be examined again. 

The essence of a call to the ministry is an absorbing 
love for Christ and for the souls whom he has redeemed. 
If the call be absent, it is of little use to study the 
method of exercising it. 

Let the question be examined again, if not to decide 
a doubt, better still to arouse a truer consciousness of 

2 



14 PRELIMINARY. 

motives, and a higher appreciation of the student's 
sacred position. 

These considerations open the way for a nearer ap- 
proach to the science which is to engage our studies. 
But upon the threshold we are met with a vital 
question, 

What is the source of clerical influence f 



PERSONAL CLERICAL CHARACTER THE 
SOURCE OF CLERICAL INFLUENCE. 



INTRODUCTION. 

PAET I. 

The Source of Clerical Influence. 

Before presenting the topic positively, light will be 
thrown on it, if we consider some sources of clerical 
power that have been exhausted by the drains of the 
ages, and are now dried up. 

The history of Christianity presents some curious 
phenomena in the progress of the search after clerical 
influence. For one of the earliest necessities of a min- 
istry in an organized Church is power. Especially does 
the ministry of the Gospel need power, forced to a con- 
tinual struggle against opposition, inborn, inbred, and 
cherished. So that a desire on the part of the Christian 
ministry to possess power, is both natural and neces- 
sary ; and arises out of the very condition in which 
it is placed. For a ministry of religion must possess 
power, in order to success. 

Our Saviour's example is instructive. He needed to 
exhibit power, so that men might respect his mission. 
Xor, under the circumstances, could his moral influence 
alone have sufficiently enforced his claims. Therefore, 

15 



16 PERSOXAL CLERICAL CHARACTER 

He added to it a manifestation of miraculous gifts. 
So the Apostles, initiating a new religious system, re- 
quired and possessed miraculous powers. These tended 
to prepare the way for, and to enforce, that moral influ- 
ence on which Christianity mainly depends for suc- 
cessful advancement. But near the close of the first 
century miraculous powers became extinct. The min- 
istry was then left to its own internal resources. 
During the purer ages, that moral power proved to 
be sufficient, which resulted from weight of personal 
character, and from a common acknowledgment that 
the ministry of Christ was divinely appointed. These 
gave sufficient effect to clerical instruction. As our 
Saviour and his Apostles in their times, so the clergy 
of the earliest centuries in their day perceived no reason 
for separating themselves in rank from their flocks ; no 
necessity for taking upon themselves the peculiarities 
of a Caste. 

There is a distinction between the idea of Order and 
Caste. Order is a separation of office, authority, and 
employment, among those who, in all other respects, are 
upon equality. Caste is a separation of quality; an 
essential separation of rank ; as when birth, or office, 
takes one out of a natural position, and places him in 
an artificial position, above or below those who are 
otherwise his equals; and thereby separates the two in 
habits, thoughts, and feelings. Now the ministers of 
Christ were always an Order; and from the beginning 
were separated from other Christians so far as office, 
spiritual authority and employment were concerned ; 
but no further. They were not a caste; not a class 
distinct in all relations from other Christians. The 



THE SOURCE OF CLERICAL INFLUENCE. 17 

Levites 'were a Caste, not merely an Order. Brahmin 
priests are a Caste. Russian priests, until 1869, were 
a hereditary Caste. Romish priests are a Caste. The 
Ministry is an Order. 

Our Saviour, except in his official character, was one 
of the people ; a Nazarene, a carpenter, a tax-payer, a 
citizen. The Apostles, except in their official position, 
were parts of the community : fishermen, tent-makers, 
working with their own hands so as not to be charge- 
able, dressing like the people and living among them. 
In like manner, the clergy of the earlier Christian 
Church recognized no distinction in themselves from 
the members of their flocks, except what arose from 
their divine appointment as teachers. They were still 
a part of that community, within which they exercised 
spiritual gifts. 

But as corruptions increased in the Church, a new 
phase of clerical ideas arose. Perhaps as corruptions 
increased, the necessity for more power to contend with 
corruptions seemed also to increase. Most probably 
the thirst for authority was aggravated as the possibility 
of obtaining it became manifest. Such a forgetf illness 
of Gospel simplicity is not unnatural. The temptation 
always exists. The danger is always to be guarded 
against. 

A great impulse to this perversion of clerical power 
was afforded by that false doctrine concerning the Sacra- 
ments, which before many ages became common in the 
Church. The idea of the Lord's Supper was gradually 
changed, in the conceptions of the Church. From ai 
simple common feast of love following upon the com- 
memoration of the sacrifice once offered, and having the 

2* 



18 PERSONAL CLERICAL CHARACTER 

nature of a Sacrament because it was an ordained out- 
ward sign and pledge of an inward spiritual grace re- 
ceived, it was changed to a mystery which assumed to 
repeat an actual sacrifice of Christ upon a Christian 
altar ; and, pari passu with that perversion, went on 
the separation of the clergy, who accomplished the 
miracle, from the people, and their formation into a 
priestly Caste. 

During many ages, the priests of a debased Chris- 
tianity were as actually a Caste, as are the priests of 
Hindooism. Transmission of authority among those, 
took the place of the inheritance of authority among 
these. An idea of indelibility in the Christian priestly 
office was as effectual a security of power to them, as 
birthright into office is for a Hindoo. The ministry 
became a close corporation ; perpetuated by its own 
officers ; dependent on its own choice. The people had 
no part and no voice in it. Kept aloof by fear, or 
standing afar off in distrust, there were no common 
sympathies between them. It became the policy of the 
Clergy to encourage an entire separation of interests. 
They assumed a peculiar dress ; resided in their own 
communities. Deprived of family ties, and lost to 
social instincts, monasticism became their natural re- 
source. But when, under the monastic system, indi- 
vidual influence was gradually merged in the idea of 
corporate power, individual character became of minor 
importance. And when the influence of character, and, 
with it, its true moral power disappeared, a necessity 
arose for finding some substitute. That substitute was 
discovered in the creation of a spiritual tyranny. At 
Jast, then, the priestly Caste became complete in all 



THE SOURCE OF CLERICAL INFLUENCE. 19 

features; and, with an iron rod it ruled the Church; 
ruled the nations which bore the Christian name. 
Separated in all respects from the people, wielding by 
divine right a sacramental miracle, and holding the key 
to temporal pains and pleasures, as well as to eternal 
punishments and rewards, the Christian ministry had 
forgotten that they were servants, whilst they assumed 
mastership : and the Christian family presented the 
strange spectacle of a complete division into two classes 
— spiritual tyrants, and spiritual slaves. 

The Reformation was a resurrection. Dormant ideas, 
dead thoughts, awoke to life. And though the true 
notion of the ministry had apparently gone to dust, 
sepulchred for generations among lost things, yet was it 
instantly revivified by returning Christian conscious- 
ness. A reaction was to be expected. A reaction 
occurred. Priestly Caste disappeared in the Reforma- 
tion ; it melted away before that Truth, whose beams 
gave light to the mind and warmth to the affections. 
Falsehoods upon which its ideas were based vanished. 
It was impossible to maintain a priestly Caste when 
the Sacrament had ceased to be a sacrifice ; when the 
altar resumed its higher position as a Table for a sacra- 
ment of love ; when confession was reduced to brotherly 
communion, and absolution was again, as at the be- 
ginning, only a preaching of the Gospel of the Lord's 
forgiveness. 

But unfortunately this reaction did not stop at the 
point of truth. Human ideas, loosed from an extreme, 
always swing to the opposite, vibrating often between 
ulti mates, before they assume the true poise. And so 
men's ideas gradually tended toward the destruction of 



20 PERSONAL CLERICAL CHARACTER 

the idea that the Christian ministry is even an Order. 
Happily the Ministry regained its share in the sympa- 
thies of the Christian people. Entering into their life, 
their habits, their family relations and social enjoy- 
ments, it became part of, and partook in, all the in- 
terests of the Christian commonwealth. Gradually the 
lay people re-asserted their forgotten right to a voice in 
the appointment of ministers. But gradually, and surely, 
the reaction progressed, swinging public opinion away 
from the truth that the minister is divinely appointed ; 
and from its necessary concomitant, that such a divinely 
appointed ministry is an Order to be perpetuated by 
divine regulation. At last the Church became familiar 
with a new theory of Ecclesiastical Government: a last 
stage, Independency and Congregationalism ; a theory 
as different from Apostolic truth on the better side, 
as the theory of Romanism was opposed to Apostolic 
truth on the worse side. Now appeared, opposite to 
Caste, an idea of Parity. The ministry, no longer sep- 
arated from the people, having returned to their former 
relations among the people, was scarcely distinguished 
any longer, (theoretically,) even as an office, from those 
whom it served. All were priests ; all had equal right 
to minister; all were equally consecrated. Only for 
convenience special public duties were laid upon a few. 
Vinet clearly enough sets forth this idea — although not 
always quite consistent with himself. " For us/' he 
says, " who do not receive the real presence, what 
remains in the minister when once the supernatural 
gifts have ceased ? The Christian, only the Christian, 
consecrating his activity to make others Christians, and 
to confirm in Christianity those who have embraced 



THE SOURCE OF CLERICAL INFLUENCE. 21 

this religion. He does habitually, what, occasionally, 
and in a special manner, all Christians should do. He 
does it with a degree of authority proportioned to what 
we may suppose a man has of knowledge and fitness, 
who has consecrated himself exclusively to that work. 
But he has no revelation peculiar to himself. . . . He 
is a steward, a manager of the common interest. If 
he thinks it right, according to the word of St. Paul, 
that believers should obey him as their spiritual ruler, 
the sense in which he understands this leaves intact the 
liberty and responsibility of those who obey."* Or, as 
we understand this statement, the ministry is self-con- 
secrated • its authority is derived from its own self- 
appreciation of knowledge and fitness, and from the 
consent of the people to that estimate. The ministry is 
no longer an Order; is no longer separated even in office; 
derives no authority from that office ; each minister is 
on a par with every other Christian, even in duties, 
except, as weight of character, or some acknowledged 
fitness for the public service of a congregation, tempo- 
rarily elevates him. 

We shall not stay to discuss either extreme of those 
divergent theories. It is well for the Clergy to under- 
stand, however, that this last view is the popular and 
prevailing idea of ministerial authority in our day. 

The course of Church history reads us then an 
instructive lesson on the idea of clerical power. As 
on other topics, its examples produce a philosophy, for 
those who understand. The principles established and 
illustrated by our Saviour and his Apostles were truth. 

* Vinet, Pastoral Care. 



22 PERSONAL CLERICAL CHARACTER 

Error has vibrated between two extremes ; between Caste 
and absolute Parity; showing itself an error by just 
so many degrees as it departed from the early and 
scriptural standard of truth, and approached either of 
these erroneous notions. 

The Reformation in the Church of England en- 
deavored to strike the poise between extremes, and in 
most respects succeeded. But the peculiar political 
events which accompanied, and the political relations 
which followed that Reformation, have necessarily 
caused some deviation from the Apostolic model. Re- 
lieved from political complications by the Revolution, 
our Church has realized again the primitive relations 
between the ministry and the people. 

With us the Clergy are an Order : i.e., a rank among 
Christians charged with special duties; but separated 
from the rest only so far, and to that end. They are 
set apart by divine authority for the work of the min- 
istry : and according to the divine regulation, the Order 
is perpetuated by tactual succession. But this truth is 
not subject to any of the evils of the Caste-idea. No 
one rises to this ministerial Order without consent of the 
people out from whom he comes. By constant infusion 
of new elements fresh from the people, the whole Order 
is popularized in its feelings. But more than this, our 
doctrine has seized and appropriated all that was true 
on this topic in ideas of the Reformation : true then, 
because an older truth, even from Apostolic days. The 
ministry are in all respects part of the people; live 
among them, share their habits, manners, family ties, 
social enjoyments ; eat with them, dress like them, 
think as they do, participate in all their ideas. It is an 



THE SOURCE OF CLERICAL INFLUENCE. 2o 

Order, its authority divine and its perpetuity divinely 
arranged; but still it is merely an Order among the 
people. 

You will infer then that I derive clerical influence 
from a double source ; from its divine authority, and 
from the popular estimation in which it is held. 
Rightly so. It has of truth both these elements of 
power. But in respect to the first, let us appreciate 
the day in which we live. Present ideas most concern 
us. However attractive are the relics of the past, men 
are not accustomed now to live in tombs for sake of 
a companionship with past ideas. If this generation 
shall not understand or appreciate our thoughts, we will 
do well to lay aside all that may not be indispensable 
in theory, and learn to think as they do. We must 
be men of this day. And, consequently, it should be 
impressed on our minds, that this age does not allow 
any particular weight to theories of divine right. 

Indeed it has become popular even in our owtl 
Church, to depreciate this divine truth. It does not 
tally with extreme ideas of liberty in human govern- 
ment, those which border on licentiousness. And, con- 
sequently, there is a strong temptation to desert this 
important verity, — that Christ has regulated the affairs 
of his Church, and especially the mode of perpetuating 
his ministry : which regulations are to be found in, and 
interpreted by, Apostolic precept and practice. Instead 
of that truth, there is a prevailing tendency to assert 
that the foundations of the Church were laid in purely 
democratic methods, upon the choice of the people, and 
their sense of the expediency of the system. We yield 
to such a theory — no, not for a moment. Our Church 



24 PERSONAL CLERICAL CHARACTER 

bases her rules upon Scripture, and upon ancient 
authors; upon divinely inspired directions, interpreted, 
so far as may be needed, by the earliest Christian 
custom. We have no question of the truth of the Divine 
appointment of our ministry, and that Christ himself di- 
rected the mode of its perpetuation by a tactual succession 
unbroken from Apostolic days. And inasmuch as it is 
true, it is to be inculcated. Judiciously taught it will 
benefit a congregation ; and a right appreciation of it 
will also increase our solemn sense of responsibility to 
God, and of obligation to be faithful to souls whom 
He has committed to our care. But injudiciously 
obtruded, tenaciously insisted on, forced upon unwilling 
ears, and presented in such a manner as to lead our 
people to think that we feel ourselves elevated by 
Divine intention beyond their reach and beyond their 
sympathies, and more especially, if the cherishing of 
such an idea should separate us in the least degree from 
perfect unity of feeling with the people of our charge, 
this idea of clerical authority will annihilate our power. 
Whilst, then, theoretically, our divine appointment is 
an element of power; practically, under prevailing 
sentiments, it will not be an element of influence. 

We return, then, from this negative view of our 
subject, to reaffirm the positive side of it ; which is 
the special purpose of the present Introduction. 



THE SOURCE OF CLERICAL INFLUENCE. 25 



PAET II. 

The Source of Clerical Influence is Personal Clerical 
Character. 

Nothing remains from the conflicts of the clergy with 
past generations, but Clerical Character. 

The clergy have no spiritual power apart from their 
moral influence ; that idea, although once maintained, 
has disappeared. They have no sacramental miracle 
by which to enforce a tyranny over consciences. That 
idea, once held, has been exploded. Even their divine 
Ordination, their right as heavenly ambassadors by 
virtue of office divinely bestowed, (as I have already 
said,) has been thrust out of sight by the hurry of new 
and false ideas. 

So that, practically, nothing remains to be a source 
of clerical influence in this age, except individual 
clerical character. Nor need we desire any other in- 
fluence. Enough respect exists for the sacred duties of 
the ministry to give to every one whose character is 
worthy of it, a position in the community equal to, 
indeed, as a general rule, higher than his proportionate 
worth, and sufficiently elevated to accomplish all the 
spiritual ends for which the ministry was appointed. 

Clerical character has relation to three great depart- 
ments of the Pastoral office ; namely, Instruction, 
Administration, and Discipline. And with respect to 
each of them, the bearing of each distinct element of 
character will be apparent, as soon as it is mentioned. 
For character is formed of various elements : among 
which may be specified for our present purpose, intel- 
B 3 



26 PERSONAL CLERICAL CHARACTER 

lectual, moral, social, practical, and spiritual character; 
and the highest excellence in each element of this 
character is necessary in order to the highest success in 
each department of Pastoral life. 

I write for the Instructors of men ; and that in an 
age noted for its intellectual achievements. The science 
which the ministers of Christ are appointed to develop 
is the most profound of all the sciences. It requires 
all a minister's art, to induce men to think on topics 
which are not attractive in their nature, and which 
require in them an effort in order to enable them to 
grasp, even after being presented in the simplest form ; 
nor will men be easily induced to follow in thought, 
unless they feel that their minister's knowledge is 
superior to theirs, and unless they are impressed with 
the power of his methods. Every faculty then is to be 
cultivated ; all brought into play ; each pressed into 
the service of the heavenly Master. A minister's 
knowledge of Theology in all its parts, in its pro- 
foundest truths, as well as its simplest exhibitions, is to 
be thorough, discriminating, and complete. His The- 
ology, that is, his knowledge of divine truth, is to be 
systematic : the bearing of each part of truth upon the 
other is to be clearly appreciated, so that there shall be 
no confusion of mind produced by his statements of 
different truths. On all subjects of religion he must be 
prepared to give an opinion ; and, on important topics, 
to give the grounds of his belief. I do not think 
that it is necessary for a clergyman to express himself 
positively on every theory which a parishioner may 
suggest. There are some topics concerning which it 
is wise immediately to confess that he knows nothing ; 



THE SOURCE OF CLERICAL INFLUENCE. 27 

even if he should not think it well to say that his in- 
quirer is in the same category. But, on great solemn 
practical and spiritual truths of religion , he is expected 
to have an opinion, and to express it ; as a guide to 
the ignorant, a resolver to the doubting, and a com- 
forter of the perplexed. And in the ability to make 
even profound truths clear to a mind of ordinary in- 
telligence, lies the strength of a minister's intellectual 
character. You will understand me to express the 
opinion, that our Church, and the community around 
it, which regards it with respect, expect that our Min- 
isters will be something more than exhorters and 
evangelists ; that they will be Instructors. Whilst 
capable of preaching the Gospel with the utmost sim- 
plicity, and of stirring men's souls by earnest appeals 
to their affections, and of leading sinners directly to a 
penitent faith in a Crucified Saviour, and from that 
faith into union with Christ's Church, our Ministry is 
expected to be capable of holding converted men in 
their place as professing Christians ; instructing, watch- 
ing, guiding, and influencing them, in such manner 
that they will be able to give a reasonable account of 
their belief, and will cling to it through temptation and 
trials. It is the function of our Church, and its glory, 
to possess a definite creed, and to expound it. The 
community which understands us relies on our Min- 
isters to explain and defend that creed. And their 
intellectual character is determined by fidelity in giving 
this instruction. In this respect I think that a Pastor 
must be equal, if not superior, to every person in his 
parish. He is to retain that mastery of minds, which 
in accepting a Pastorship he asserts. To lose it ever, 



28 PERSONAL CLERICAL CHARACTER 

is at once to sink below the level of legitimate influ- 
ence. But when the intellectual character of a minister 
holds the rank which has been described, he wields a 
measure of influence which is power. 

I write for those who are to teach men the morals of 
the Gospels; instruct in principles of virtue; form men 
into a higher style of neighborly character than that 
which a sinful world exhibits. All relations of life 
are within the guardianship of a minister's warnings, 
advice, or reproofs. His own morality must therefore 
be without reproach. 

He is to lead men to Christ. Wandering sinners, 
astray without consciousness of it, often without thought, 
sometimes far gone from right, are to be led to Christ 
by the tones of a Pastor's voice, by the tenor of his ex- 
perience, and by the words of his Gospel. I speak ad- 
visedly ; for in this matter of preaching from experi- 
ence, the Gospel preached becomes one's own Gospel ; 
just that which he has appropriated to his own use. 

Theory is not enough. Without doubt, the Devil is 
an able Theologian. But a clerical character which is 
to assert power must add to a mind furnished, trained, 
and developed, a heart thoroughly placed under the 
power of these truths, and a will as thoroughly sancti- 
fied. A minister whose character in the pulpit will 
move and hold men, will have experienced, in his own 
religious history, the power of truths which he applies. 
Those truths are to work not alone upon the intellect 
of men, but always also on the affections; and in gen- 
eral chiefly upon the affections. But one can never 
learn from books the way in which truth deals with a 
soul. Each teacher of it needs his own experience of 



THE SOURCE OF CLERICAL INFLUENCE. 29 

it. We need to have felt the influence of divine things. 
We need to have known the power of the law in ex- 
posing our own sin ; the depth of that sin ; the entire- 
ness of our depravity which it exposed ; the corruption 
which had seized and affected every part of our nature ; 
the helplessness of our condition, when we became con- 
scious of the Divine abhorrence of iniquity. We need 
to have experienced the sweet compulsion of the Spirit, 
drawing us willingly , unwilling, towards the Cross of 
Christ. We need to have felt the inrushing sense of a 
Saviour's love, and the outgushing rush of affection 
and desire, and devotion and self-abandonment, and 
self-consecration ; all mingling in the single act of faith 
towards Him, by which we are forever bound to Him, 
by which we share His life, and become partakers of 
life hidden with Him in God. From our own blessed 
experience we become able to apply such truths to the 
experience of other men. 

And further, sinners who are saved are to be led on 
by our ministry to the highest degrees of Christian ex- 
cellence; up to the full measure of perfect men in 
Christ Jesus. Consequently our preaching is to breathe 
a true spiritual-mindedness. Words fall from a min- 
ister's lips with power, when it is evident that they are 
uttered as the experience of a spiritual man ; a man 
who has made good progress in the Christian life ; w T ho 
has learned by experience to understand the usual 
methods in which God graciously deals with his chil- 
dren, has cultivated many graces, overcome in more 
than one conflict, and reached stability. 

The minister deals with souls who are at every stage 
of spiritual education : and he cannot gain the method 

3* 



30 PERSONAL CLERICAL CHARACTER 

of it except by personal religious experience. Yet his 
character as a teacher will be measured, as all teachers 
are, by his aptitude for every emergency. But when — 
for every emergency, both in meeting the necessities of 
a varying religious experience, and meeting the claims 
of the world's strict measure of Christian morality, and 
meeting the exactions of an age, which, under all its 
pretensions, does show a real thirst for knowledge and 
a habit of thinking — when a minister has secured a 
character for information and mental force which will 
meet every emergency, he becomes a leader of men, and 
is a power. Then he does not need to ask for influ- 
ence. His clerical character is power. 

Strong personal character is equally valuable, nay is 
indispensable, in the department of Administration. 
Here success depends entirely on personal influence. 
Just as other men exert influence, a minister influences 
his people. * As an administrator of a parish and its 
executive head, he comes into immediate contact with 
men. In these relations being removed from the con- 
ventional and proper influence of the pulpit, he is 
necessarily measured by the world's standard. This 
standard in reference to administration is no longer 
that which sufficed for him in the pulpit : that is a 
theological, or a churchly, or a merely experimentally 
religious standard. But as an administrator he faces 
the world, and is judged by the world from its own 
outlook. A minister who is merely a theologian stands 
little chance. Such a man is supposed to be dwelling 
either in the depths, or in the clouds, far beyond ordi- 
nary reach, or common human sympathy. 

The successful administrator will therefore be a theo- 



THE SOURCE OF CLERICAL INFLUENCE. 31 

logian who has added to knowledge of divine truth all 
other knowledge possible to him ; and if from want of 
books or opportunity he may not be able to pursue in- 
vestigations in mental, moral, and physical sciences, he 
will at least have become conversant with human na- 
ture as he finds it in the open books of human hearts, 
and characters, and lives. He will be a man whose 
<eyes are open, and his ears quick, to receive every in- 
formation which is afforded by the world of men, of 
•events, or of nature. And his mind, thoughtful and 
acting on these topics, will be equal to any conflict 
within their range. 

For influence, in this relation, it is not necessary that 
lie should become a philosopher in physical sciences. 
Perhaps there is a danger in attempting it, for few men 
can be great in more than one department. The plane 
of scientific investigation may run parallel with the 
higher plane of theological and spiritual study; but 
the two do not coincide. The one deals with physical, 
the other with psychical phenomena. The scientist is 
not capable from his physical investigations to draw 
•conclusions in spiritual science, nor is the theologian 
capable from his religious phenomena to determine the 
value of physical deductions. The spheres are separated 
and dissimilar. " Sutor ne supra crepidam" But 
-clerical influence is very much increased by breadth of 
culture. Every additional investigation, in any direc- 
tion, in which a minister becomes a master, gives him 
new insight of difficulties which assault some souls, or 
new means of meeting objections to Christianity, or 
fresh methods of illustrating the Gospel. And every 
^advance in true knowledge is an advance in power. 



32 PERSONAL CLERICAL CHARACTER 

A character for earnest piety adds greatly to his force 
as an administrator; because it establishes confidence in 
him. And on the confidence of his people his adminis- 
trative influence must depend. Yet he must be more 
than holy and devotional. Unless his piety have a 
practical character it will not tell on his influence. 
Piety which sheds no light except on the person who 
possesses it, is a beautiful, but a cold image, whether in 
a clergyman or a lay person. It has much the effect 
of a statue. One admires but is not drawn towards the 
silent, emotionless, unsympathetic image. There is no- 
thing in it to be imitated. But that piety which shows 
itself in practical labor, which is skilful in charities, 
suggestive of plans of usefulness, able in direction, 
abundant in benevolence, anxious for the growth of 
holiness in others, is the piety which tells upon the 
world. And this sort of piety in a minister is that 
which gives him influence as an administrator. 

So also in his administration of a parish, both the 
Church and the outside world are very observant of a 
minister's moral habits. His moral principles they 
learn from the pulpit ; but as an administrator his people 
learn, by daily contacts of life, whether those principles 
bear the test of trial among temptations such as other 
men are obliged to stand. 

Still further, for full success as an administrator, a 
minister must be a practical man ; and his success will 
vary much in proportion to the real value of this ele- 
ment of his character. Men with whom he deals are 
practical. Theorists are few ; and fortunately they are 
generally so much absorbed with their own fancies, that 
they do not often interfere with the current, either of 



THE SOURCE OF CLERICAL INFLUENCE. gg 

clerical or lay life. The men or women with whom a 
minister comes really in contact are dealing with the 
facts of life. It is a hard life. He who is to influence 
them, either as guide, or counsellor, or helper, must 
himself be practical ; a living man ; a working man. 
He must not be too readily imposed upon. With all 
his Christian generosity in business affairs, he must be 
a man of business tact. He must know how to make 
a bargain, yet he must never be a hard man. He will 
know how to do things. And if he does not actually 
lay his hand to the hammer or the plough, at least he 
will be capable of it. 

A temptation arises out of this very disposition : as 
well as out of each of our specially practical aptitudes. 
Seeing a frequent lack of skill in others, a practical cler- 
gyman is sorely tempted to substitute his skill for theirs ; 
or, by sympathy, he is induced to add to admiration of a 
parishioner's practical habits, too constant association. 
In this way he is in danger of losing by familiarity what 
he has gained by talent. For it cannot be doubted that 
somewhat of that divinity which hedges a king because 
of his isolation, is necessary to clerical influence. It 
may not be right, but nevertheless it is true, that a 
minister's association with trifles, and especially if in 
those trifles his foibles be observed, destroys, in many 
minds, the idea of his power to deal with the great 
things of God's law. Seclusion is as grave an error on 
the other side. But there is a happy medium between 
too great isolation and too great familiarity, which when 
attained increases, nay which is indispensable to, a full 
development of clerical influence. 

So in social life, a minister will exhibit the virtues 



34 PERSONAL CLERICAL CHARACTER 

which produce domestic happiness, and the sympathy 
which makes home and the fireside. And here is his 
chief field for direct spiritual influence. As he goes 
from house to house, and from heart to heart, he will 
carry everywhere the impression that he is a man of 
God. As a counsellor, a friend, a guardian, a com- 
forter, admitted to the intimacies of the life of his flock, 
a high toned honor and a high toned spirit, (which in- 
deed in a minister are to be part of each other,) will 
give his people that confidence in him, out of which his 
usefulness arises. 

Still more potential is personal character for the exer- 
cise of Discipline, 

In the absence of personal character ministerial dis- 
cipline falls to the ground. The pastor who can firmly 
maintain the integrity of his flock is he, and he only, 
who can look every man in the face without fear of 
human censure. If only his own morality be pure and 
his piety respected, he may stand immovably beside the 
principles of justice, and apply them under the law of 
Christian charity, with inflexible nerve. . If, beyond 
that, he be well considered for intellectual strength, and 
for acquirements more than are needed in his own line 
of study, but which mark a man of breadth of culture, 
if he be a man of practical wisdom, and if he fill a high 
social position secured by the affections of his people, 
the reins of right discipline lie in his hands by willing 
.consent. 

^Fhus personal clerical character, in all its parts, forms 
the basis of clerical influence. It is the secret of pas- 
toral power. 

In confirmation of the general truth of these posi- 



THE SOURCE OF CLERICAL INFLUENCE. 35 

tions, it would be easy to show by example that in all 
departments of human activity, the weightiest and most 
steadily effective influence — certainly that which is to 
be most thoroughly relied on — is character. Benjamin 
Franklin attributed his success as a public man, not to 
his talents or his powers of speaking — for these were 
moderate — but to his known integrity of character. 
" Hence it was/ 5 he says, " that I had so much weight 
with my fellow-citizens. I was but a bad speaker, 
never eloquent, subject to much hesitation in my choice 
of words, hardly correct in language, and yet I gen- 
erally carried my point/ 5 It was said of the first em- 
peror Alexander of Russia, that his personal character 
was equivalent to a Constitution. During the wars of the 
Fronde, Montaigne was the only man among the French 
gentry who kept his castle gates unbarred ; and it was 
said of him that his personal character was worth more 
to him than a regiment of horse. Character is power, 
in low estate as well as high : in private life as well as 
in office. An old writer calls truthfulness, integrity, 
and goodness, — which are the essence of manly char- 
acter, " that inbred loyalty unto virtue which can serve 
her without a livery. 55 But it is in misfortune that the 
character of the upright man shines forth with the 
greatest lustre; and, when all else fails, he takes his 
stand upon his integrity, as on an everlasting rock. 

Personal clerical character, so inestimable, is neither a 
gift nor an indefeasible possession. Like all other char- 
acter it is worked out, and it is retained by the same 
process by which it is acquired. Orders will not pro- 
duce it. Although the minister may trace back his 
succession by indisputable line through Augustine of 



36 TERSOSAL clerical character 

Canterbury, Irenaeus, and Polycarp, to St. John him- 
self, there will have been no grace communicated by. 
ordination which can give personal character. Under 
a minister's robes may sometimes be a fool or a knave. 
If there be, the people will soon find it out. And the 
moment they discover it his influence is gone; gone for- 
ever. It can never be recovered. A clergyman's char- 
acter will not bear a taint or even a reasonable suspicion 
of a fault. 

Therefore it is horrible cruelty and unspeakable 
maliciousness, without just cause, to breathe a word 
of suspicion against a clergyman's character. He is a 
mirror in which men are to see the reflection of Christ 
Jesus, both in principles and conduct. A foul breath 
of a lying spirit on the fair surface of that mirror dis- 
torts the Christ image, as surely as a fracture. And 
therefore it is the uppermost duty of a people to up- 
hold their pastor's fair fame. Not only should a whis- 
pered falsehood find no echo, but it should be openly 
reproved. The wise man writes that " death and life 
are in the power of the tongue." Being so, the tongue 
of the slanderer should be cut off from the congre- 
gation. 

That gossiping spirit which makes free with a pastor's 
instructions, or the manner of them, or his personal 
habits, either by direct word, or by indirect, or by the 
false story of the slanderer, should be at once exposed 
and thrust out of the Christian society. A trusting 
people will speak out their trust. Many a character 
has been ruined by the silence of those who in reality 
had entire confidence in their minister. A pastor's 
influence is too delicate a thing, and too precious to 



THE SOURCE OF CLERICAL INFLUENCE. 37 

his people, to be trifled with. Those who trust him, 
and depend on his reputation for their own spiritual 
profit, must protect that reputation. The esprit ale corps 
of a Christian brotherhood should feel, and reprove, and 
shrink from, the slightest suggestion of suspicion which 
would lower their pastor in the estimation of any one, 
either as to his intellectual, moral, social, practical, or 
spiritual character. 

But what shall I say when clergymen are found to 
assist in destroying each other's fame ? The Ministry 
is not seldom its own worst enemy. 

Character is not a gift. It is worked out by long, 
hard toil, by patience and labor. Some Christians 
seem to think, and it may possibly be true sometimes 
that even Christian ministers think, that character is 
the result, and the necessary result, of conversion and 
regeneration. It is a great mistake: and sometimes 
fatal. That blessed spiritual work, the divine re- 
newal of nature, leaves individuality untouched. It- 
Christianizes the man, but it does not make him a 
saint, nor change his natural qualities. After that 
divine renewal has been accomplished a long process 
of sanctification is required to discipline him. It is his 
school in life. It is the divinely ordered mode of pre- 
paring him for heaven. Every renewed man has un- 
dertaken the personal work of forming a new character. 
That is to be accomplished by laborious working at 
habits, by acquisition of knowledge, training of mind, 
establishment of principles, cultivation of affections, 
practising of graces, and influencing men. Conse- 
quently, for the preservation of personal character in 
any position, and especially for the preservation of 

4 



38 PERSONAL CLERICAL CHARACTER 

personal clerical character, it is necessary for one to 
work. Character will not sustain itself. In a per- 
fect moral condition, such as the life of heaven, where 
heavenly example, and heavenly society, and heavenly 
employments surround an individual whilst all deteri- 
orating influences are absent, character may be self-sus- 
taining. But it can never be so in this life. We must 
work to retain what we have worked to gain. Mental 
training lays grand foundations, but they are to be 
builded upon. Habits of study will not keep them- 
selves up, and yet intellectual position among our 
people will depend upon the perpetuation of these 
habits. 

Such habits to be trusted as the working element of 
a minister's intellectual progress must have been care- 
fully formed. No better method has been devised than 
that furnished by a college course. Such is the result 
of centuries of experience. A minister's usefulness 
and influence largely depends upon — will be seriously 
impaired by the want of — that training which is ob- 
tained in college : which is obtained, it may be safely 
said, nowhere else, and by no other method. The 
results of collegiate training are not mere knowledge 
of facts, nor knowledge of language and words, nor 
knowledge of events, nor familiarity with the acquire- 
ments of other men. But they consist in training ; in 
obtaining methods of mental activity, familiarity with 
processes of thought ; by which processes all great men 
have attained the results which made them masters in 
their age. The issue of training is judicious strength- 
ening of intellectual power; the habit of study; knowl- 
edge of correct and successful modes df investigation. 



THE SOURCE OF CLERICAL INFLUENCE. 39 

Nothing can compensate for the want of it. It is im- 
portant to be a practical man, and to have an acquaint- 
ance with men and things. But although that may be 
learned in many other ways than by college life, it can 
never be a substitute for collegiate mental training. 
The clergyman ought to be in full possession of his 
mental powers, ought to feel that he has employed every 
possible means of reaching that position of self-com- 
mand. One who enters the Ministry lacking this, is 
liable to run just so far behind his equals, throughout 
his course. 

A student of Theology may sometimes be so circum- 
stanced that this deficiency is to be regarded as a cross. 
In such a case, he may go forth to his work manfully 
and hopefully bearing this cross. Other forms of edu- 
cation may come to his assistance. But when this par- 
ticular deficiency is self-imposed, or when it is the result 
of indifference or idleness, let the student not suppose 
that any divine miracle will enable him to obtain those 
mental habits or maintain an intellectual position which 
are not his by right. And woe to that student, who, 
having wasted or misused his divinely appointed oppor- 
tunity in college or university, comes, with feeble mind 
or untrained powers, to measure himself against that 
science which demands the highest vigor and the most 
perfect habits of study. So in every other respect. 

A character for wisdom is not gained nor is it re- 
tained by haphazard acts or ventures on speculation. 
It is retained, as it is gained, by slow degrees, by years 
of watchful prudence, during which a minister does not 
make one serious error or mistake. Wisdom is not 
gained by prayer, or by being holy. Those will help 



40 PERSONAL CLERICAL CHARACTER 

us mightily : for faith which works by love, serene 
confidence in God which looks to Him for help and 
expects it, and holy obedience, are a great part of wis- 
dom. But they are not all of it. God intends that 
the most prayerful and most holy minister shall become* 
influential only by means of habits of prudence and 
common sense. 

So, to gain and retain an absolute morality, a strong, 
firm conscientiousness, a habit of doing right because it 
is right, a life approving itself to God on the one side, 
and our neighbors on the other, unremitting labor is 
required. The means to be employed, are watchfulness 
against temptation, resistance of evil, guard over temper, 
the deliberate choice of the purest principles and modes 
of life, and the deliberate following of them. It is not 
easy always to forsake the guidance of expediency, and 
to act only as in God's sight. It will only remind us 
that we are human, if we sometimes fail in our gradual 
approaches to this standard. But the manly minister 
will rise again and steadily pursue his end, until he 
possesses it. The successful pastor is that man only 
whose moral habits are without rebuke. 

And so, finally — for we can enter into no more de- 
tail on a subject which is inexhaustible — our character 
for piety is to be the result of years of discipline and 
struggle. The piety that tells on the world is not the 
piety which talks, but that which lives. And the piety 
which lives, is that which is formed and perpetuated by 
endurance of temptation, by strife against and conquer- 
ing of self, by deep humility, by long communion with 
the God of all grace, whilst He is teaching us our need 
of the principles and virtues of the Christ-life, and 



THE SOURCE OF CLERICAL INFLUENCE. 41 

revealing to us more and more the fulness of his love 
in that all-sufficient Saviour. 

It is a strengthening thought that the personal char- 
acter of each minister of Christ is precious to that 
Saviour. He is interested in our success. With 
what loving force, with what inimitable tact, with 
what gracious persistency, he helped Peter to recover ; 
and aided him to form a character which thenceforth 
he retained as unchangeable as a rock. A character 
for steadfastness in the Apostle Peter was important 
to the cause in which our Lord himself was engaged. 
And therefore we witness in that interview after the 
resurrection, on the memorable sea-shore of Tiberias, 
the probe thrice employed ; the earnest inquiry thrice 
addressed, not for information ; the loving reproachful- 
ness, not for rebuke, because Peter was already repent- 
ant, but thrice pressed to the heart, because he meant 
that nothing should thenceforth come between that 
heart and Him. And so the personal character of 
every one whom Christ has called to the Holy Min- 
istry is dear to the Lord. He watches, strengthens, and 
applauds, every right personal effort. As Pastors we 
are to work under a grateful sense of the loving help- 
fulness of that dear Christ. 

So, for the formation and the maintenance of a per- 
sonal clerical character which shall be a power, I com- 
mend each of my readers to the guidance of the 
Blessed Spirit, and the effectual sympathy of our all- 
gracious Saviour. 



4* 



. SUGGESTIONS. 

For Teachers and Scholars in a Theological Seminary ; 
not intended for other Readers. 



In using the following chapters as a basis for class- 
room instruction, it is suggested that the Teacher shall 
turn them into familiar lectures, enlarging and illus- 
trating them by his own personal experiences. At the 
opening of each, let a few questions on the previous 
lecture be asked ; to serve as a brief review, and to fix the 
main points of it in the student's mind. At the close 
of each let the Teacher be ready to reply to any ques- 
tions, that may occur to the class during the course of 
the lecture : but, as the result of considerable experience 
both as a scholar and a Teacher, I suggest, that if ques- 
tions are asked and answered during the progress of a 
lecture, the thread of thought will be broken and the 
unity of impression endangered. 

It may be well for students to take brief notes. 
Notes, however, should only be helps to memory. They 
ought to be brief; for two reasons: that memory may 
not become imbecile by over much assistance, and be- 
cause the habit of taking extended notes interferes 
greatly with attention. By all means, if possible, let 
the student school himself to such attentive listening, 
42 



SUGGESTIONS. 43 

as will enable him to remember without artificial assist- 
ance. The best mode is to carefully review the lecture 
on returning to one's room, subsequently comparing 
one's recollection with those of other students in the 
class, and then writing out additional thoughts which 
may have been suggested. 

The use of Bridges on the Christian Ministry is 
recommended ; it is not a text-book, but its instructions 
are both spiritual and practical, and of great value. 
Bishop Wilberforce's Lectures to his Students, and 
Bishop Oxenden's Pastoral Theology, although based 
on somewhat different theories are equally instructive, 
and arrive at the same practical conclusions. 

In the class room a comparison of views will tend to 
elicit and confirm the truth : and therefore it is well, at 
the close of every lecture to allow an opportunity for free 
conversation on the topics treated of; students should 
be required occasionally to write and read essays upon 
these topics. 

A systematized analysis of this Book will be found 
in the Appendix ; by reference to and use of such 
analysis, a student will be able readily to review each 
lecture. 

The form of personal address has been retained as 
best suited to the object which the w T riter has in view 7 . 

In arranging, classifying, and in the mode of treating 
subjects the author has followed a method of his own. 

Recognizing the principle that each Teacher's mind 
will work best in his own traces, he recommends that 
a Teacher should use this volume only as a book of hints 
to aid, but not to be a substitute for his own methods 
of instruction. 



44 SUGGESTIONS. 

The writer has freely availed himself of the labors 
of wise teachers in this department and often referred 
to them. His object is truth, not novelty. His aim is 
that every student shall be thoroughly furnished in this 
science. He has intended in every case to give the 
reference. If in any case he has omitted it, he asks the 
reader's indulgence. 

That wisdom which time and the consenting appro- 
bation of the Church has consecrated, ought to guide 
our investigations. Nor is he a skilful teacher, who, 
to point a thrust, or finish a blow, does not select out 
of the armory of the past, weapons which have borne 
the brunt of many an onset, whilst no dent has been 
left upon their fine temper. 

The writer has departed from the usual course of in- 
struction in this branch principally in particularity and 
minuteness of practical suggestions as to items of Pas- 
toral labor. But he trusts that no suggestion will be 
deemed of small account which may help in preparing 
a candidate for the Ministry to meet the actual exi- 
gencies of intercourse with a parish. 



PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 



CHAPTEE I. 

THE TOPIC DEFINED. 

Definition. — Pastoral Theology is the Theory of the 
practice of Theology in Pastoral care. 

In order to definite aims in studying any science, it 
must be clearly denned to ourselves. 

Pastoral Theology is the science of applying a knowl- 
edge of Divine things to the relationships and duties 
of a Pastor. So in Law and Medicine, this depart- 
ment is named the " theory and practice/' or more cor- 
rectly, the theory of the practice. By this knowledge 
men are prepared, in the one case, to apply principles 
of law to practice at the Bar ; and in the other, to 
apply their knowledge of the curative powers of medi- 
cines, and the modes of administering remedies, to the 
cure of disease. In like manner Pastoral Theology 
stands between a knowledge of Divine things, and the 
application of that knowledge to the cure of souls. 

The definition is easily explained ; and an explana- 
tion will be sufficient proof of its correctness. Let us 
understand the terms. 

It is a theory in contradistinction from the practice 
of it : a theory, because it is a body of principles only. 
It is a theory, because intended to account for all the 

45 



46 PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 

phenomena of Pastoral care, and to cover all cases 
which may arise in the exercise of the Pastoral office. 
And its completeness as a theory is in proportion to 
the degree in which its principles meet the exigencies 
of Pastorship. Theory is defined " the knowledge of 
the principles by which practice accomplishes its end." 
Thus Pastoral Theology is a theory. 

It is a theory of practice : of practice merely. It 
does not deal in speculations. Speculative theology is 
beyond its precincts. Even a true theory of theology, 
a systematic Divinity, is excluded from our studies. 
The author's own views must necessarily be expressed 
on many points of dogmatic theology, ecclesiastical 
history and polity, of exegesis, homiletics, and liturgies. 
But on these points his purpose is not to teach : only, to 
show how a student is to make practical use of infor- 
mation, which he is supposed to have gained from other 
departments in the theological course. We have to do 
mainly with facts and experiences in human life : and 
our science is the practical application of a knowledge 
of religion to human life. 

It is a practice of theology ; i.e., of our knowledge 
of divine things. 

The term theology includes ideas we have formed 
concerning God ; concerning our relations to Him, con- 
cerning human destiny, and human hopes and fears in 
respect to God, concerning the offer of salvation, the 
mode in which it may be secured, its peculiarities as 
being the divine remedy for moral evils ; concerning 
our duties to God, (i.e., religion,) our duties to our 
neighbors, (i.e., morality,) and our duties to ourselves, 
in the system wherein God has placed us. 



THE TOPIC DEFINED. 47 

So far in the course of theological study, opinions 
reached on all these points are theoretical. Now they are 
to become practical. Theories are to he applied to prac- 
tical life. And whereas, heretofore, they were mainly 
important to the student, as it is important for every one 
to form right opinions on whatever he thinks about, 
now they become important because he is to apply them 
to the guiding of other men. The scholar in Pastoral 
care is to study how to apply his knowledge of The- 
ology, in guiding other men to think right, and to do 
right, in all relations. 

This science relates only to Pastorship. 

As Christians we bear many relations to mankind • 
and our knowledge of theology should be practically 
useful in all of them : e.g., as we are citizens of a com- 
monwealth, or members of families, or of society. But 
as ministers of Jesus Christ, intrusted with the care of 
souls, our relations are peculiar, and limited : and this 
theory of the practice of theology refers only to those 
relations. 

All the terms have now been explained excepting 
one, the Pastoral care, or Pastorship. 



THE PASTOR'S OFFICE. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE LIMITS AND RELATIONS OF PASTORSHIP. 

Pastorship is a large term. 

Our Saviour called himself Pastor. " I am the 
Shepherd of the sheep," He said. Those whom He 
calls to follow Him in this ministry are admitted to a 
similar relationship : and bidden to discharge all like 
duties, so far as a minister may imitate his Master. 
He was Teacher, Guide, Exemplar, and Friend. He 
administered the affairs of his little flock. He exer- 
cised discipline. And his influence was personal and 
individual over each, one by one : and so over all. 

In the same sense, and in the same relations, a minis- 
ter of Christ becomes a Pastor. He is Teacher, Guide, 
Exemplar, Friend, Administrator, Judge, and Execu- 
tive. He deals with individuals. His intercourse is 
personal. His offices are for all, and for each. The 
body which he serves, and over which he presides, is 
gathered out of the world one by one. As one by 
one they are bonded to Christ, and bound in the holy 
chain of sacraments within the body which he serves, 
they become that church which calls him Pastor. 

Pastorship includes offices which are distinct, one 
from the other, and which may be separately exer- 
48 



LIMITS AND RELATIONS OF PASTORSHIP. 49 

cised. A minister may be a preacher without being a 
Pastor. Then we term him an Evangelist. A minister 
may be a teacher without being a Pastor. Then he 
becomes a Professor. A minister may be a mere offici- 
ator, an administrator of sacraments, or a performer of 
services, without being a Pastor. Then the term cover- 
ing his functions is Priest. But Pastorship includes all 
these, and more. 

Yet, the distinguished feature is, that all offices, and 
all labors, have reference to men's spiritual interests 
primarily ; if in any case to temporal interests, then 
only because they are inseparably related to their spirit- 
ual interests. Pastorship is a cure of souls ; cura, a care, 
a charge, in the first instance, of men's souls. Whatever 
other care falls to the Pastor arises from this primary 
relation, and is secondary and subordinate to it. 

But his responsibility and care are limited. He is 
not charged with oversight of the souls of all men, 
but only of those over whom he is placed, those who 
are separated to his charge by the metes and bounds 
ordained within his church. For that particular num- 
ber of souls he is responsible before God. He is re- 
sponsible for their right instruction ; so far as his in- 
fluence extends for their right conduct ; and so far as 
ecclesiastical law provides or allows, for the consistency 
and purity of their morals and example. But his re- 
sponsibility goes no further than to the exercise of 
Pastorship over his own flock. 

Pastorship, then, is a relation to a definite number 
of human spiritual interests, involving certain spiritual! 
cares; a relation formed by two elements, a divine 
appointment, and a call from a congregation. 
c 5 



50 THE PASTOR'S OFFICE. 

A minister is not a Pastor simply because he is or- 
dained ; nor can a layman, in any true sense, become a 
Pastor of souls. The elements involved are, a Divine 
call by the Holy Ghost to give fitness, a Divine ap- 
pointment to give authority, and a call from the people 
to define that number of souls over which the charge 
is to be exercised. 

A Pastorship is a very solemn office. The Holy 
Ghost prepares, sends, and ordains his minister. A 
Christian community seeing evidences of fitness, invites 
that minister; places in his hands its submission to his 
wisdom, guidance, and love ; trusts itself entirely to his 
knowledge in religion, his devotion to Christ and to 
them ; and lays on his heart the momentous charge of 
preparing it for life and for eternity. 

Pastorship is a very difficult office. A minister is 
brought immediately into contact with souls. The 
questions which arise are not to be settled, as many 
questions of every-day interest may be, by considera- 
tions of expediency, and comparison of prospects of 
welfare either of body or estate. They are questions 
of principle. And they are the more difficult because 
spiritual conditions are not so easily fathomed, as con- 
ditions of body or estate. The Pastor's difficulties are 
multiplied, because of the great number of interests 
that are submitted to his judgment and advice; the 
.difficulties ramifying by the number of parties in- 
terested in his decisions. The position is difficult, be- 
cause phases of spiritual character, and changes in spirit- 
ual condition, are infinite in variety. And difficult 
again, because advice and counsel are to be given, and 
action is to be taken, where there are few specific 



LIMITS AND RELATIONS OF PASTORSHIP. 51 

statutes, where laws are principles rather than direc- 
tions, and where in general, he can rely only on his 
religious experience, spiritual knowledge, and discreet 
good sense, to determine his path of duty. 

Pastorship is the most attractive labor of the minis- 
try. It forms the dearest ties, next to those of the 
family. It interweaves one's sympathies, and offices, 
with the tenderest moments of the life of a people. 
The Pastor is present in hours of sorrow 7 , and hours 
of joy. He comforts the mourner, he helps the de- 
sponding, he cheers the embarrassed, he guides the 
wandering, he brings back the erring, he thrown God's 
light upon the shadow* of death, he lifts up the sad 
penitent's eyes to the cross of the Redeemer, he bears 
up the soul that longs to speak its woes but dares not, 
until in the strength which his sympathy communicates, 
it can utter its needs to the heart of God the Holy 
Ghost. He rejoices with the believer w r ho has found 
peace, he mingles in household scenes of thankfulness, 
he dedicates the children to Christ, he marries those 
round whom a family's hopes are clustering, he buries 
the dead. No other professional relations are so inti- 
mate, no other professional ties so tender, as those. 

Thus Pastorship becomes a very sacred office. It 
opens to the Pastor the most intimate communion with 
individuals of a charge. It involves the possession of 
confidences in spiritual intercourse. It implies a very 
thorough acquaintance with every member of a flock ; 
the peculiarities of their natural disposition, the spe- 
cialties of their religious history, and the influence of 
circumstances surrounding each. 

Pastorship involves a terrible responsibility : for each 



52 THE PASTOR'S OFFICE. 

of these souls is to be rightly, led by the earthly Pastor, 
through the vicissitudes of life and the variations of 
religious experience; led by counsel and instruction and 
watchful monitions, safely, and without harrn^ to the 
Great Shepherd. Who is sufficient for such a charge ! 
No man, except through the guidance and gracious sup- 
port of God the Holy Ghost. 

The Pastorship concerning which we are to study, is 
therefore a cure of souls ; a specific and limited cure 
indeed : but covering all spiritual and ecclesiastical 
interests within those limits. Its duties cover the 
teaching of young and old, preaching from the pulpit 
and lecture desk, and teaching by catechisms : the 
training of children for Christ, in his Church; all 
that religious education (so far as a Pastor can give 
it) which will lead them, from the covenant of Baptism, 
through the safeguards of Confirmation, up to the privi- 
leges of the Lord's Supper. Its duties cover that per- 
sonal religious intercourse, by which the peculiar re- 
ligious experience of each is brought to a proper test, 
differences and mistakes are relieved, and errors are 
corrected. Its duties cover a life-long watchfulness 
over each, which shall never cease to aid, comfort, 
counsel, and correct as each has need. 

But these souls are gathered into a spiritual com- 
munity, which has its laws, interests, and disorders. 
Each such community is a Church, which needs ser- 
vices, sacraments, and ordinances; which has its officers 
and its property. The Pastor's duties then extend to 
the whole subject of administration of Parish affairs, 
and the right conducting of all its holy services. They 
cover the proper management of its schools, the arrange- 



LIMITS AND RELATIONS OF PASTORSHIP. 53 

merit and oversight of all departments of its Christian 
charities, and its labor in the cause of Christ. 

And finally they cover the whole subject of Church 
discipline. 

These topics group themselves round three main 
centres, namely, Instruction, Administration, and Dis- 
cipline, 

Our Lectures follow this order. 



5* 



INSTRUCTION. 



55 



PART FIRST. 



CATECHISING. 

PEEPAEATION FOE CONFIEMATION. 

PEEACHING. 

SOCIAL INSTRUCTION. 



56 



CATECHISING. 



CHAPTER III. 



'Definition. — Catechising is a Greek word used by 
Saint Paul. Its root is double : xaza rjxeaj to sound 
against, or as we say in English echo. It is that sort 
of instruction by which the scholar echoes the Teacher's 
instruction : either repeating after him, or repeating the 
words which he is taught : or, less strictly, repeating 
the thoughts suggested by the Teacher, but in different 
words. 

Our Church Catechism requires one of the first two 
methods of instruction. Sunday-school instruction and 
that of Bible Classes generally follows the last ; and 
therefore can be termed catechising only in a modified 
sense. 

We speak now concerning Catechising in the strict 
sense ; instruction in, and according to the methods of 
our Church Catechism. 

Its History. — Archbishop Seeker says, " It is the 
peculiar glory of Christianity to have extended religious 
instruction, of which but few partook at all before, and 
scarce any in purity, through all ranks and ages of men 
and even women. The first Converts were immediately 
formed into regular societies and assemblies ; not only 
c* 57 



58 CATECHISING. 

for the joint worship of God, but the further c edifying 
of the body of Christ f in which good work some of 
course were stated teachers, or to use the apostle's own 
expression (Galatians vi. 6) ' Catechists in the word' ; 
and others were taught or catechised, Catechumens." 

The existence of these catechetical classes is a promi- 
nent fact in early church history. The distinction be- 
tween Catechists and Catechumens is constantly made. 
Nor were the Catechists in all cases an inferior order in 
the church. Although generally this duty was confided 
to laymen of experience and learning, (who indeed 
thereby became in a degree official persons,) or to Deacon- 
esses ; yet Bingham remarks, that many records show, 
that Deacons, Presbyters, and often Bishops took upon 
themselves this difficult but honorable duty. The cele- 
brated Origen is said to have commenced his career in 
the Church as a Catechist. 

"It is observable that no Church anciently denied 
any order of Christians the use of the Holy Scriptures 
in the vulgar tongue, since even the Catechumens them- 
selves, who were but an imperfect sort of Christians, 
were exhorted and commanded to read the canonical 
books in all churches, and the apocryphal books in 
some churches, for moral instruction. Nay, if we may 
believe Bede, they were obliged to get some of the Holy 
Scriptures by heart, as a part of their exercise and dis- 
cipline before they were baptized. . . . Among them, 
as St. Austin and others have observed, those were 
commonly the most tractable and the best proficients 
who were the most conversant in the holy Scriptures." 

" As we descend into the dark ages of the Church, cat- 
echetical instruction, with all other instruction, appears 



ITS HISTORY. 59 

to have been grossly neglected. At a synod held in 
England in the year 735, it was enjoined, 'that the 
priests learn and teach to know the Creed, Lord's 
Prayer, and words of consecration in the Masse (or 
eucharist)' in the English tongue. This seems to 
indicate, as Fuller (from whom the canon on these 
instructions is quoted) remarks, that ' learning then ran 
low, since the priests themselves had need to learn 
them ; yet ignorance was not then so high, but that the 
people were permitted to be taught them.' " 

" On the first dawn of the Reformation in England 
it was found necessary to recommend catechetical in- 
struction as a means of dispelling the gross ignorance 
in which the people were involved. This work was 
commenced by Cromwell in the reign of Henry VIII, 
6 and though what he required/ Archbishop Wake re- 
marks, i went no further than to teach first the parents 
and masters themselves, and by them their children 
and servants, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the ten 
Commandments/ yet this was a good beginning, and 
even more than many of the Clergy themselves in those 
days were very well able to expound to theni."* 

It may teach us gratitude for our privileges in the 
present day to learn, from an old and faithful historian, 
the state of the people and the means adopted for their 
instruction in the early part of King Edward the 
Sixth's reign. 

" There was now great care taken that the vulgar 
sort might arrive at some knowledge of religion, which 
they were for the most part barbarously ignorant of 

* Dixon and Smith, pp. 219-221. 



60 CATECHISING. 

before. And for this purpose provision was made that 
the people might learn in English the Lord's Prayer, 
the Creed, and the Ave, that were always to be said 
before in Latin, but especially the Lord's Prayer, com- 
monly called the Pater Noster. And therefore the 
better to inculcate it in the minds of the people, Lati- 
mer used to say this prayer constantly, both before and 
after sermon, in the country where he was. And when 
any poor people came to him to ask an alms, he would 
oppose them with the Lord's Prayer and bid them say 
it, and cause his servants sometimes to require them to 
say it. Many would tell him they could say the Latin 
Pater Noster, and others that they could say the old 
Pater Noster, (as they termed the Lord's Prayer in 
Latin,) but not the new, meaning the English."* 

From this time the history of Catechising is distinct 
in the Church of Christ generally, and in our own 
Church particularly. The construction of Catechisms 
was among the earliest works of continental Reformers. 
Among those, that of Luther holds a high place. The 
Presbyterian Church has its Longer and Shorter Cate- 
chisms. The Dutch Church has a valuable Catechism, 
treating doctrines at length and with scriptural proofs ; 
besides a compendium of Christian faith. The Romish 
Church set forth its Catechism of the Council of Trent. 
Cranmer's Catechism, to which I have alluded, was a 
reprint and revision of a German Catechism by Jonas, 
comprising " elementary instruction on The Command- 
ments, The Creed, The Lord's Prayer, The Sacrament 
of Baptism, The Power of the Keys, and the Lord's 
Supper." 
* Archbishop Wake. See also G-eikie's English Beformation, 



ITS HISTORY. . 61 

But — noticeable illustration of the slow gradations 
of progress of truth in that age, and in our own great 
Reformer's mind — the Commandments were arranged 
according to the Romish pattern : the first two coalesce ; 
and the tenth is divided to make up the number to 
Ten. But Cranmer gives a distinct instruction on 
Idolatry, in which he expresses dislike of this arrange- 
ment. Still further, he acknowledges only three Sacra- 
ments, Penance being one. 

In the reign of Edward VI (1553) two Catechisms 
were set forth ; the larger was probably what is called 
NoelFs Catechism, and will be found in Volume 1 of 
the Christian Observer, The smaller is without name ; 
but was probably an abbreviation by Archbishop Cran- 
mer himself. The use of this latter was enjoined by 
Edward, and subsequently by Elizabeth ; and is sub- 
stantially that now in use ; except as to the instruction 
on the Sacraments, in which it was entirely deficient. 

In the reign of James I, during the Hampton Court 
conferences, 1603, it was determined to enlarge the 
Shorter Catechism. 

Bishop Overall, one of the translators of our Eng- 
lish Version, added that peculiarly discriminating and 
valuable instruction on the Sacraments which now 
forms part of our Catechism. Associated with him 
were such men as Andrews, afterwards Bishop of 
Winchester, and Saravia, Hooker's most intimate 
friend, and men of like character. I quote from 
Dixon and Smith's Catechism. 

"The Catechism of the Church of England has 
undergone no change since this period. It has been 
adopted by the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 



62 CATECHISING. 

United States, with some few alterations, the most 
important of which are, the change of the expression 
i who sanctifieth me and all the elect people of God/ 
into i all the people of God f and the substitution of 
■ spirit ually' .for e verily and indeed' in that part of 
the Catechism which treats of the Lord's Supper. It 
now stands a monument of the wisdom and piety of 
former ages, not less honorable to the venerated men 
who educed its principles from beneath the accumu- 
lated rubbish of ages, than invaluable to us, who enjoy 
the fruits of their toils and sufferings. May we duly 
appreciate the inheritance, of which this brief 'form 
of sound words' forms a small but not unimportant 
part, and be enabled to transmit it, unimpaired and 
unsullied, to our latest posterity." 

Value. — The value of this mode of Instruction may 
be inferred from the foregoing brief sketch of its 
history. 

It was one of the earliest discovered wants of the 
Church, and as early supplied. It originated in the 
fact that heathen minds were entirely destitute of 
Christian ideas, and of the language in which to express 
them. A double necessity at once arose : the necessity 
of teaching Christian truths in their elements, and in 
particulars ; and also the necessity of teaching the 
words in which those truths were conveyed. 

Much of the derision and opposition with which 
early Christian Teachers were listened to, no doubt arose 
from the inability of the heathen mind to apprehend 
the great doctrines thus brought to their notice. No 
wonder that they called the Apostles " babblers." 
" Thou bringest strange things to our ears," said even 



ITS VALUE. 63 

the wisest of them to Saint Paul. This arose not more 
from the natural enmity of the heart excited against the 
Gospel, than from the fact that the heathen found great 
difficulty in understanding the language of Christianity, 
as well as the Christian doctrines. 

Christianity did not use the language of the schools 
of philosophy, nor of the poets, nor of the Forum, 
much less of the market place. Consequently, as a 
general rule, we find that Christian sermons at first pro- 
duced little effect, except to arouse enmity, and awaken 
attention, until the Preachers had devoted themselves 
to Pastoral ministration, to Catechising from house 
to house, to explanations of the truth, in the sim- 
plest forms, and in its elements. Then, as occurred 
in Antioch of Pisidia, after a week spent by him 
in Catechising, Saint Paul's second sermon produced 
marked results. Let it be noted, that the wonderful 
results of St. Peter's first sermon, were not exhibited 
upon minds unfamiliar with the truths of Divine re- 
ligion, but upon proselytes of Judaism ; upon men who 
had in effect been Catechised under the Jewish system, 
and had already mastered the first elements of Christian 
science. 

So that in the earliest times Catechisings, as pre- 
paratory to the full reception of the Gospel, as 
preparatory to Baptism, to Confirmation, and to full 
Communion, became a custom of the Church. And no 
doubt, to this instrumentality we are to attribute such 
steadfastness of faith as was exhibited by the early 
converts ; such clearness of view ; such comprehension 
of even deep mysteries of grace ; and such ability to 
unmask and to expose heresies. 



64 CA TECHISING. 

A similar obstacle to that referred to above stands in 
the way of Missionary effort in our own day ; as in 
our. mission to China for example. 

" The idea of God." Our Missionaries were a long 
time in finding a word by which to express that first 
idea; and have not to this day entirely agreed among 
themselves as to the word which best expresses it. It 
was supposed that the word Baptism would occasion 
the chief difficulty. On the contrary, the difficulty and 
the first schism among Missionaries to the " Flowery 
Kingdom" arose about the first idea of the Bible, God. 
And to this day the English prefer Shangti, and the 
Americans Shin. For Baptism no word could be 
found : and the Baptists were allowed to choose their 
own terms, all others adopting the same. 

So as to the general conception of religious ideas. 
When the Missionaries first prayed to an impersonal 
and unrepresented God, every Chinaman ran out of 
church, leaving the Missionary alone. 

The Missionaries of our own Church have adopted 
the plan of beginning by teaching through Catechisms 
both the language of Christianity and the ideas of 
Christianity. Consequently when they preach, their 
Chinese congregations understand them. In the earlier 
days they were regarded as the most successful of all 
Protestant missionaries in China, and Bishop Boone 
always attributed it to their constant habit of teaching 
by Catechisms. 

All missions have found it necessary to begin by 
teaching the language and ideas of Christianity in 
schools : as in India, in Africa, and in Greece. 

Applying this practice, which is indeed a principle, 



ITS VALUE. 65 

to our own circumstances, we are to bear in mind that all 
unconversion is a modified heathenism. Neither ideas 
of Christianity, nor the terms of Christianity, are to be 
found in the vocabulary of an unconverted soul. 

Jeremy Taylor instructs his Clergy, not to be satisfied 
with telling their people to " come to Christ," " give 
themselves to Jesus," but to instruct them what these 
terms mean. Jeremy Taylor's language is, " Do not 
spend your sermons in general and indefinite things, in 
exhortations to the people to get Christ, to be united to 
Christ, and things of the like unlimited signification : 
but tell them in every duty, what are the measures, what 
circumstances, what instruments, and what is the prac- 
tical minute meaning of every general advice. For 
generals not explicated, do but fill the people's heads 
with empty notions, and their mouths with perpetual 
unintelligible talk : but their hearts remain empty, and 
themselves are not edified."* 

The A, B, C, of Christianity is in such terms as, " orig- 
inal sin," " natural sinfulness," " actual sinfulness," 
"God's law," "exposure to punishment," "Christ's 
sacrifice and substitution," "terms on which sins may 
•be forgiven." 

Much of this language is learned, by means of Chris- 
tian influences which surround every man in this land : 
but still, in general, people's views are indistinct. 
Many intelligent persons are ignorant and therefore 
unprofited hearers. A wealthy man said to me once, 
" I do not know what you mean by self-denial :" yet 
he was decidedly a very advanced Christian man. The 



* Rules and Advice to Clergy, iv. 42. 
6* 



66 CATECHISING. 

children in a congregation are almost altogether unprof- 
ited, when our sermons are wanting in this rudimental 
instruction ; whilst when well instructed in Catechisms, 
they become intelligent and interested. Jeremy Taylor 
says, " Let no person in your parishes be ignorant in 
the foundations of religion; ever remembering, that if, 
in these things, they be unskilful, whatever is taught 
besides, is like a house built upon the sand."* 

Preaching is to the rudiments of Christianity, what 
composition is to the Alphabet of language. Rudi- 
mental instruction is as necessary to comprehension of 
preaching, as the primary school and the grammar are 
to advanced composition. If such rudimental instruc- 
tion is not given by Catechisings, it must be given in 
sermons: and sermons must descend in the scale accord- 
ing to the absence of Catechisms ; or they may ascend, 
both in gravity and deepness of truths, and in the free 
use of the language of Christianity, just in the propor- 
tion as Catechisms become more thoroughly employed. 

Jeremy Taylor says, " The Clergy should take 
great care to catechise all their children in the nurture 
and admonition of the Lord, to prepare a holy seed 
for the service of God, to cultivate the young plants 
and to dress the old ones, to take care that those who 
are men in the world be not babes and un instructed 
in Christ, and that they who are children in age may 
be wise unto salvation; for by this means we shall rescue 
them from early temptation, when being so prepared, 
.they are so assisted by a divine minister : we. shall 
weaken the devil's power by which he too often and too 



* Works, vol. iii. 713. 



ITS VALUE. 67 

much prevails upon uninstructed and unconfirmed 
youth. For fiupov ttjcf Pe^aioxna o/jLidoyiatr, i Confirmation 
is the firmament of our profession f but we profess 
nothing till we be Catechised. Catechisings are our 
best preachings, and by them we shall give the best 
accounts of our charges, while in the behalf of Christ 
we make disciples, and take prepossession of infant 
understandings, and by this holy Rite, by prayer and 
the imposition of hands, we minister the Holy Spirit 
to them, and so prevent and disable the artifices of the 
devil ; ( for we are not ignorant of his devices/ how 
he enters as soon as he can, and taking advantage of 
their ignorance and their passions, seats himself so 
strongly in their hearts and heads. ( Turpius ejicitur 
quam non admittitur hostis. 5 It is harder to cast out 
the devil than to keep him out. Hence it is that the 
youth are so corrupted in their manners, so devilish in 
their natures, so cursed in their conversation, so dis- 
obedient to their parents, so wholly given to vanity and 
idleness ; they learn to swear before they can pray, and 
to lie as soon as they can speak. It is not my sense 
alone, but was long since observed by others. There is 
a coldness and deadness in religion, and it proceeds 
from the neglect of Confirmation strictly ministered 
and after due preparation and discipline. A little thing 
will fill a child's head : teach them to say their prayers, 
tell them the stories of the life and death of Christ, 
cause them to love the Holy Jesus with their first love, 
make them afraid of a sin ; let the principles which 
God hath planted in their very creation, the natural 
principles of justice and truth, of honesty and thank- 
fulness, of simplicity and obedience, be brought into 



68 CATECHISING. 

act, and habit, and confirmation by the holy sermons 
of the Gospel. If the guides of souls would have 
their people holy, let them teach holiness to their 
children, and then they will (at least) have a new gen- 
eration unto God better than this wherein we now live. 
They who are most zealous in this particular, will with 
most comfort reap the fruit of their labors, and the 
blessings of their Ministry."* 

Such is the estimate of Catechisms held by many of 
the wisest Churches, and most discreet men. Witness 
the Dutch Church. It has an extended Catechism in 
fifty-two parts, and directs that sermons on it shall be 
preached every Sunday afternoon : fifty-two in the year 
on the Catechism. Their ministers catechise children 
during the week. Rev. Dr. De Witt and Rev. Dr. Knox, 
in their day, gathered their boys and girls regularly in 
the Consistory room on Wednesday afternoon of each 
week for the season, for catechisings : parents accompa- 
nying their children. 

Witness the attention paid by the Presbyterian 
Church to Catechisms, and their use of them in schools. 

Bishop White in the introduction of his letters on 
the Catechisms says, " Now it has been very much the 
complaint of judicious divines, that Sermons have too 
much superseded the old and useful expedient of Cate- 
chism instruction. By this they mean the repeating 
over and over the primitive truths of religion, until 
they are made familiar to the minds of the instructed : a 
work much more useful to them, than what is understood 
under the name preaching."f Vinet says, "Among 

* Ibid., vol. iii. p. 30. f See Bridges, Note 353. 



ITS VALUE. 69 

our functions, this occupies the first rank. Religious 
instruction, well attended on, renews continually the 
foundation of the Church, and is the most real and val- 
uable part of that tradition by which Christianity, not 
only as a doctrine, but also as a life, perpetuates itself 
from age to age. In this tradition, the importance of 
the sermon, properly so called, is the greater in propor- 
tion as it is addressed to hearers who have been pre- 
pared by religious instruction." 

" Catechising is useful to those who are its immediate 
objects ; it is useful to the parish, which has need to be, 
and with its children, is Catechised ; it is useful to the 
Pastor himself, who, by the duty of adapting religion 
to the apprehension of children, is incessantly carried 
back to simplicity and the true names of things. On 
all these accounts, it deserves our earnest attention, 
which it also demands by its difficulty, not the same for 
all pastors, but always great. For it is a work which, 
besides all the requisites to good preaching, includes 
special requisites of its own. He who catechises well 
will not preach badly ; though he who preaches excel- 
lently may be a bad catechist."* 

Baxter says in relation to Catechisings from house to 
house, " Let those who oppose it tread me in the dirt, 
and let me be as vile in their eyes as they please, so that 
they will but fall upon the work ; that our hopes of a 
more complete salvation of men, and of a true reforma- 
tion of the Church may be revised. I must confess 
that I find by some experience that this is the work that 
must reform indeed ; that must expel our common pre- 

* Vinet, p. 229. 



70 CATECHISING. 

vailing ignorance ; that must bow the stubborn hearts 
of men ; that must answer their vain objections, and 
take off their prejudice : that must reconcile their hearts 
to faithful ministers, and help on the success of our public 
preaching ; and must make true godliness a commoner 
thing, through the grace of God which worketh by 
means. I find that we never took the right course to 
demolish the kingdom of darkness until now. I won- 
der at myself how I was kept off from so clear and ex- 
cellent a duty so long. I was long convinced of it, but 
my apprehensions of the difficulties were too great, and 
my apprehension of the duty too small. I thought the 
people would have scorned it, and none but a few that 
had least need would have submitted to it. The thing 
seemed strange ; and I stayed till the people were better 
prepared. . . . Whereas upon trial I find the difficulties 
almost nothing, . . . and I find the benefits and comforts 
of the work to be such, as that I profess, I would not 
wish that I had forborne it for all the riches in the 
world."* 

From such estimates of the value of Catechising, 
formed and expressed by wise and good men, and by 
the Church at large, in every generation, we gather the 
grounds upon which its importance is to be affirmed. 

1. Because the instruction is rudimental. It has to 
do with first principles of religion. They are of first 
importance in forming religious character : in forming 
the character of a Church. 

2. Because the instruction is simple. It is the sim- 

* Baxter, p. 26, 27. — See Fisher and Erskine on Explanation of 
Westminster Catechism. 



ITS VALUE. 71 

plest. It is necessary for the teacher to understand these 
principles thoroughly, in order to convey them. By 
the effort, the instruction itself becomes simplified ; for 
it is only in proportion to the indistinctness of our own 
views, that we render any topic misty to others. The 
elements of any science, though containing all its truths 
in the germ, are in themselves simple, and easily com- 
prehended. It is so with religion. 

3. Because the instruction is impressive. It is by 
question and answer. It is conversational. The teacher 
and scholar are brought into close contact. Sympathy 
is increased. Truths are fixed upon the mind in cer- 
tain forms of speech. The words become things. The 
truths themselves become more significant on account 
of the importance attached to the language in which 
they are conveyed. 

" It is wonderful how much more he will achieve in 
this manner, by taking his pupils with him, than by 
setting up for himself, and imparting to them ten times 
as much knowledge in a formal oration of his own. 
In this latter case the matter will pass from them as 
it flows : and whether what he had been discussing re- 
lated to Peter, or James, or John ; or the facts were 
done at Jericho or Jerusalem ; or the scope of the argu- 
ment was to teach them to pray or to give alms, to re- 
pent or to believe the Gospel, they knew not. The 
sermon had been blameless, but there had been no con- 
straint upon them to give their thoughts to it. In the 
former case (to adopt the language of the excellent 
Herbert, whose chapter entitled ' The Parson catechis- 
ing/ affords many valuable suggestions on this topic), 
when the Parson has once got the skill of question- 



72 CATECHISING. 

ing, he will draw out of ignorant and silly souls, even 
the dark and deep points of religion."* 

4. Because the instruction is systematic, positive, and 
churehly. 

Systematic : — All the advantages of system belong to 
it. It is a wedge-shaped instruction ; one part being 
constantly in advance of the next; working its own 
way, and working in. 

It is easily remembered, both because the impression 
made is stronger on account of the orderly arrange- 
ment; each part being remembered in its place and 
stored away in the mind is readily found again by the 
student ; but also because of the influence of natural 
association in assisting recollection. 

Positive : — No doubts are suggested by this mode of 
instruction. All truth conveyed by it comes by au- 
thority. 

Churehly: — In accordance with the system of our 
own Church. It encourages confidence in, and love for, 
our Church. It forms children in habits of attach- 
ment to it. It therefore lays a foundation for its future 
prosperity. The Catechetical class is a feeder for the 
Church. It prevents the lambs of the flock from 
straying : because it enables even the youngest to de- 
tect a difference in that instruction which they receive 
in other Churches ; if unfortunately they are led into 
them, by the attractions of other Sunday-Schools. 
They may not be able to analyze the differences. 
Nevertheless the suggestion of doubts will render 
them uneasy. They may not quite comprehend the 

* Blunt, 186. 



ITS VALUE. 73 

source of their discomfort. But they will prefer to 
remain beside their own fold, where no doubts suggest 
themselves, and where their minds are at peace, because 
sustained by familiar truths, and truths uncontroverted. 

5. Because the instruction is given to the young. 
Its influence upon them is direct. God gives them 
teachableness of spirit for the purpose of laying them 
open to such influences. 

Upon older persons this mode of instruction is often 
wonderfully useful, on account of its indirect and in- 
cidental character. It is a chance shot. It is a blow 
delivered when they are unguarded ; when the armor 
is off. David aimed at the part which the visor had 
left undefended. 

But it is direct upon children. They appreciate the 
effort to do them good. They are peculiarly open to 
Pastoral influences. They are ready to yield to au- 
thoritative statements. They accept truth because their 
Minister assures them that it is truth. Our position is 
thus made one of the highest responsibility : but also 
of tremendous power. 

" My first and greatest success (says Baxter, in his 
Introduction to compassionate counsel to young men) 
was upon the youth ; and so it was when God had 
touched the hearts of the young, with love of good- 
ness and delightful obedience to the truth, in various 
instances their friends, their fathers, and their grand- 
fathers, who had grown old in an ignorant and worldly 
state, many of them fell into a liking and loving of 
piety, induced by their love to their children, who now 
appeared so much wiser and better and more dutiful." 
Such is every true Pastor's experience. 
d 7 



74 CATECHISING. 

6. Because the instruction prepares an intelligent 
audience for our sermons. We have already spoken 
of the importance of inculcating both the ideas and 
language of Christianity, in order to prepare an entrance 
for the Gospel. And Catechising not only gives this 
necessary preparatory instruction, but enables it to lay 
firm hold upon mind and heart. 

7. Because the instruction benefits the Minister, He 
thereby forms habits of close analysis, of systematic 
arrangement of ideas, of illustration, of simplicity in 
thought, of plainness in expression, of readiness, of 
knowledge of Scripture, and of familiarity in style 
and manner both in addressing his audience, and in 
touching subjects which might not be permitted in 
pulpit discourse. 

The Duty, — Is inferred from these considerations; 
but the Church at large, and several Diocesan Churches 
in particular, have pressed the duty ; not leaving it to 
the haphazard of a Minister's sense of obligation, or 
his aptness for the work. 

Observe the imperativeness of the two rubrics which 
follow the Catechism : 

u The Minister of every parish shall diligently upon 
Sundays and Holy days, or on some other convenient 
occasions, openly in the Church, instruct or examine so 
many children of his parish, sent unto him, as he shall 
think convenient, in some part of this Catechism/' 
" And all Fathers, Mothers, Masters and Mistresses, 
shall cause their children, servants, and apprentices, 
who have not learned their Catechism, to come to the 
Church at the time appointed, and obediently to hear 
and to be ordered by the Minister, until such time as 



THE DUTY. 75 

they have learned all that is here appointed for them 
to learn." 

Observe also the positive direction of our Canon. 

"Canon 19. — The Ministers of this Church, who 
have charge of Parishes or Cures, shall not only be 
diligent in instructing the children in the Catechism, 
but shall also, by stated catechetical lectures and 
instruction, be diligent in informing the youth and 
others in the doctrine, constitution, and liturgy of the 
Church."* 

Also, weigh the force of a Resolution passed by the 
Diocesan Convention of Ohio, in September, 1842, as 
an example of the judgments expressed by many in- 
dividual Dioceses. Such resolution was as follows : 

" Resolved, That in the opinion of this Convention, 
the duty of catechetical instruction of the baptized 
children of the Church is one which ought to receive 
the diligent attention of every parochial clergyman in 
the diocese." 

* Title I. Digest. 



CATECHISING. 



CHAPTER IV. 

ANALYSIS AND EXPLICATION. 

We give an Analysis, and in some sort an Explica- 
tion, of the Catechism. As a part of Pastoral Theology, 
it is to be shown how the Catechism may be and should 
be used in Pastoral ministrations ; especially in teaching 
the children of the Church, and in preparing Candi- 
dates for Confirmation. 

Subject — The Church Catechism is a brief compen- 
dium of Christian doctrine. A system of Divinity, 
both speculative and practical. This instruction is so 
much condensed that it is capable of indefinite expan- 
sion in Pastoral teaching. 

There are five parts in the Catechism : 
The Christian Covenant. 
The Rule of Christian Faith. 
The Rule of Christian Obedience. 
The Rule of Christian Prayer. 
The Christian Sacraments. 
A whole Theology is included here. 
It is especially practical : theology in its uses as a 
guide for our lives. 

It is wholly scriptural, and is in accordance with 
the Articles and Liturgy. For the evidence on these 
76 



ANALYSIS AND EXPLICATION. 77 

points, and the means of exhibiting them, I refer to 
Smith and Dixon's Catechism, and advise that constant 
use be made of that manual. 

My object now is to show that a complete system of 
Theology is expressed or implied by the Catechism ; 
and in what manner. 

The Chkisttan Covenant. — Under this term the 
following ideas are included: A covenant of grace, 
originating in Divine benevolence : its conditions exe- 
cuted by Christ our Saviour ; its benefits offered to men 
on terms which exhibit Divine love. A covenant wholly 
of grace. 

The first question and answer call attention to the 
fact that such a Covenant exists, N or nn, nomen or 
nomina f The question calls for the Christian name 
of the Catechumen ; the name as a Christ-child, so to 
speak, in contradistinction to the family name known 
by the world. It suggests the fact of the existence of 
a Covenant, and of a Covenant relation with Christ. 

Two ideas are pre-supposed : A Covenant : and the 
two parties to it ; God and man. 

A Covenant is an agreement between these two 
parties. By it one agrees to give to, or do for, the 
other something on certain conditions. But the fact 
that a Covenant exists between God and man, implies 
that at some time there had been disagreement. God 
and holy angels do not need to enter into Covenant. 
Hence the idea of necessity for a Covenant, and con- 
sequently all the doctrines connected with the fall ; 
human depravity ; the weakness, as well as the wick- 
edness of human nature; and the danger and ruin 
which followed. 

7* 



78 CATECHISING. 

Next, the possibility of a Covenant. The grace of 
God made it possible by removing obstacles arising 
from Man's rebellion; that is, on the one side, the 
doctrines which cluster round the Atonement ; and on 
the other, the doctrine of Spiritual Regeneration. All 
hindrances having been removed by these Divine pro- 
visions (which are all of grace, and all exhibit the 
infinite undeserved and unconditional love of God) a 
Covenant became possible. 

It is in the option of Almighty God in appointing a 
Covenant to make it conditional or unconditional ; ab- 
solutely free, which is the doctrine of Universalism, or 
based on such terms as will secure the highest moral 
results, which is the doctrine of the Gospel. 

All Covenants have Form. The expressed or im- 
plied agreement is made visible, and impressed, and 
sanctioned, by an outward deed, signature, and seal. 

The outward form, the signature, the sealing of this 
Covenant, is the Sacrament of Baptism. 

The seal is not part of the Covenant. But under 
God's Ordinance the Covenant is not realizable by us, 
(if I may coin the word,) is not made real to us, except 
by the Rite that seals it to us. Under God's Ordinance 
the two are not to be separated. 

But whilst the Covenant cannot be real to us until 
it is sealed, and the Seal is nothing worth and means 
nothing, unless the Covenant exists ; it is evident that 
they may be separated in time. The Covenant may 
take place before, or after, or at the same time, as the 
declaration and sign of it. The point of most impor- 
tance is that both parts shall exist. And therefore the 
Catechism recites, in its closing portion, "a Sacrament 



ANALYSIS AXD EXPLICATION*. 79 

is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spirit- 
ual grace :" the one ordained, the other given, by Christ ; 
that is, the one committed to his Ministers to be admin- 
istered for Him, the other given by Himself; the one 
visible, the other invisible. Both are requisite. Both 
are necessary to that idea of a complete Covenant which 
the Catechism supposes to exist. 

The Catechism therefore in using the term Baptism 
covers by it this whole idea of a completed Covenant. It 
refers both to the spiritual act, and the seal. And in the 
whole explanation, this idea must be carefully carried 
along in our own mind, and in our explications. The 
Church cannot provide formularies for exceptional, or 
what ought to be exceptional, cases. She provides a 
formulary not for an imperfect, but for a perfect Bap- 
tism. She regards God's promises as made to Christian 
faith, and writes her language of the Sacrament, to suit 
a true, not a false, or imperfect sacrament. She con- 
siders only a Baptism in which there is both the out- 
ward sign and the inward grace, the spiritual regenera- 
tion as well as the sign of it. Consequently the Bap- 
tismal service speaks not of an insufficient but of a real 
Sacrament ; asks God not for a pretence of grace, but 
for a real grace ; and having asked, (of course in faith,) 
gives God thanks for having bestowed not a partial 
mercy, but a real mercy — in the language of the day — 
not only a change of state, but also a change of heart, 
a spiritual renewal. 

The Church does not say that God always ties this 
great spiritual mercy to the sign of it. A formulary 
of worship is not the place for nice distinctions, or 
suggestions of controversy. The Church merely asserts 



80 CATECHISIXG. 

the scriptural truth, and acts on it, and prays according 
to it, that a Sacrament consists both of the sign, and the 
thing signified. I may say in passing, that this view of 
Baptism and of our service for Baptism, is the view of 
the Reformers who prepared the formulary, as Goode 
has sufficiently and incontrovertibly shown ; is the view 
held by all the old Reformed Churches, as is expressed 
in their formularies • is, so far as I understand it, the 
view held by the great body of our Church. 

The Second Question and Answer, develop this idea. 
The Covenant having taken place, and the sign and 
seal of it having been affixed, we are taught to say, 

It was a true Baptism when I received my name. 
And in it I was made " a member of Christ, the child of 
God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven" : all 
of them spiritual mercies of the highest spiritual char- 
acter, belonging only to those who are not only trans- 
ferred from an outward allegiance to Satan into the visi- 
ble kingdom of God, but who are spiritually regenerate. 

This second Question and Answer therefore lead to 
the terms of the Covenant. 

On God's part, expressed as above. 

On man's part expressed in the 

Tliird Question and Answer. " They did promise 
and vow three things in my name. First, that I should 
renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and 
vanity of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts 
of the flesh. Secondly, that I should believe all the 
Articles of the Christian Faith. And thirdly, that I 
should keep God's holy will and commandments and 
walk in the same all the days of ruy life." 

The fourth Question and Ansicer, are intended to im- 



ANALYSIS AND EXPLICATION. gj[ 

press on our minds the realities of these views. The 
Sacrament was a real thing ; the blessedness is unspeak- 
able. " He hath called me to e a state of salvation/ 
not a state in which salvation is merely possible, but a 
state in which I am among the saved, and I pray to be 
continued A in it t to my life's end/ " 

The Baptised seldom, alas ! seldom, in these days of 
little faith, can be addressed as if they were in posses- 
sion of the blessings affirmed in this formulary. It is 
important therefore to observe, that the Covenant 
having been entered into on God's part, and his agree- 
ment being sealed by his authority, He holds himself 
graciously bound by the agreement at whatever time 
the other party shall fulfil his part of the terms. 

The fourth question and answer, prepare us to con- 
sider these terms on man's part, expressed in several 
questions and answers. 

Repentance in the third. 

Faith in the fifth and sixth. 

Obedience in the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth. 

In other words, the terms on our part are man's 
whole duty : repentance, faith, and obedience. 

The first term is Repentance, It is the renouncing 
of all forbidden things, in such way that " I will not 
follow or be led by them." It implies conviction of 
sin, contrition, penitence, renunciation, and reforma- 
tion ; entire, both in principle and practice. 

Repentance has reference to three classes of sins, 
according to their sources. 

" The Devil" involving belief in the existence and 
agency of Satan ; in his power and habit of working 
upon man's evil passions. 



82 CATECHISING. 

" The World" enticing us to sins by pomps and 
vanity. 

" The Flesh" involving the idea of our being ex- 
posed to temptations of sense. 

The second term is Faith. 

The rule of Faith is the Creed. — All this is to be 
believed. There are twelve articles to be noted in an 
accurate analysis of the Creed. 

THE RULE OF CHRISTIAN FAITH. 

1. God the Father. — His personality, characteristics, 
and the part in the scheme of redemption which the 
Father is pleased to occupy. 

" I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of 
heaven and earth." 

2. God the Son. — His Divinity, personality, charac- 
teristics, and his relation in the scheme of redemption 
graciously assumed. 

u And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord." 

3. Christ's incarnation, true manhood, and prophet- 
ical office. 

" Conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin 
Mary." 

4. Christ's atonement, its nature and characteristics. 

" Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead." 

5. (Illustrative) Christ's partnership with us, and his 
actual substitution for us. 

* Dead," 

« Buried." 

" Descended into Hell" the place of Spirits departed 

6. The doctrine of the resurrection of Christ, 
" The third day he rose from the dead." 



ANALYSIS AND EXPLICATION. 83 

And the involved doctrine of our resurrection with 
Christ ; the resurrection of all men. 

7. Christ's ascension : the completion of His media- 
torial character and offices. He became 

First, our Priest, that is, Intercessor on the ground of 
his personal offering of the tokens of his sacrifice. 

Second, our King. 

u He ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the right 
hand of the Father Almighty," 

And here are to be expounded all the truths relating 
to Christ's absolute sovereignty over all men, over all 
nations, over all kingdoms ; and His rule of the world 
for the sake of His Church, and for the accomplish- 
ment of the plans of His Gospel. 

8. Christ's Judgment. 

" From thence He shall come to judge the quick and 
the dead." 

Here are to be expounded the reasons why he was 
appointed Judge, " because he is the Son of Man ;" 

The principles on which he will pronounce judgment; 
and 

The consequences of that final judgment; sentences 
according to men's deeds done in the body. 

9. God the Holy Ghost.-^-His Divinity, personality, 
characteristics, and offices in the scheme of redemption. 

"I believe in the Holy Ghost." 

10. The doctrine of the Church of Christ. Its 
extent, Catholic. Its limitation, Holy, explained by 
the term, the Communion of Sa'nts. 

" The Holy Catholic Church, The Communion of 
Saints." 

Implied in this truth of the existence of a universal 



84 CATECHISING. 

spiritual Body, the Catholic Church, is the doctrine of 
the visible Church, the Church which is known by 
the signs of the Covenant, that is, by the Sacraments ; 
and necessarily at this point comes in the doctrine of 
Episcopacy, as involved in the idea of a proper admin- 
istration of the Sacraments for the visible Church. 

11. " The forgiveness of sins ." Here is declared the 
efficacy of Christ* s atonement and mediation. This is 
the place for explaining justification in its practical 
application. Also, the Holy Spirit's offices in applying 
Christ's salvation, and His modes of operating on the 
human heart. 

The instrument on man's part is Faith. The results 
are the Forgiveness of Sins, followed by holy obedience, 
and the calm peace of filial relationship. 

12. The doctrine of the last things. 

A universal resurrection, and a universal life. 

" The resurrection of the dead, and the life everlast- 
ing." 

A summary of doctrine follows : 

One question is asked : but the three answers to it 
are connected. 

" What dost thou chiefly learn by these articles ?" 

The Trinity, one God, three Persons ; 

The Gospel, one Salvation, three parts ; 

The Father, the author of Creation ; 

The Son, the author of Redemption ; 

And the Holy Ghost, the author of Sanctification. 

Creation, embracing all things material and imma- 
terial. 

Redemption, embracing mankind ; not all the world, 
or all intelligent beings, only mankind. Here is a ref- 



ANALYSIS AND EXPLICATION. 85 

erence to the doctrine of a universal atonement and re- 
demption ; showing that it is not partial or particular : 
"All mankind." 

Sanctification, including the ideas of renewal and 
sanctiflcation. 

Here the limits of the subject become more restricted. 
The work of the Holy Ghost, his specific office, is dis- 
charged, not for all mankind, but only for the " people 
of God." And here it is to be made clear to Cate- 
chumens that salvation is not universal ; although Atone- 
ment and Redemption are universal. But sanetifica- 
tion is limited, for necessarily it can reach none others 
than the people of God. And as there can be no sal- 
vation without sanctiflcation, therefore salvation is not 
universal. 

THE KTJLE OF CHEISTIAX OBEDIEXCE. 

The third term is obedience. — The rule of Christian 
obedience is the Ten Commandments. There is no anti- 
nomianism in Church teaching, any more than in the 
Gospel. The Law is short and comprehensive. It 
claims obedience in thought, word, and deed ; it forbids 
thoughts, words, and deeds against God, and against a 
neighbor. Offences being forbidden, it is implied that 
duties are required. The greatest offence in each class 
being forbidden, implies that all lesser offences in that 
class are forbidden. 

The two tables of the Law are next presented. 

The first commandment defines the Being to whom 
submission is due. 

In the second, Idolatry is forbidden, and reverence 
for God alone is required. 



86 CATECHISING. 

In the third, irreverence to His name is forbidden ; 
and all kindred sins. Legal oaths are legalized. 

By the fourth, a devotion of certain time to God is 
demanded ; a fixed time in order that it may not be for- 
gotten ; a limited time that ordinary daily work may 
not be neglected. 

The second table refers to duties and offences in re- 
spect to Neighbors. 

The fifth defines our duty to, and forbids offences 
against, those in authority. 

In the Family: towards Parents, Guardians, and 
Teachers. 

In the State : towards Governors and Magistrates. 

In the Church : towards Spiritual Pastors. 

In the Social compact : towards Masters, Employers, 
and Superiors. 

The sixth defines duties and offences respecting Life. 

The seventh defines duties and offences respecting 
Chastity. 

The eighth defines duties and offences respecting 
Property. 

The ninth defines duties and offences respecting 
Character. 

In the tenth, Divine authority is asserted over the 
h^art ; and Divine cognizance of evil desires is declared. 

The summary of these commandments given in our 
Catechism is unrivalled for completeness, brevity, and 
terse analysis. 

Such being the terms of the Covenant on man's part 
there follows of necessity a sense of need for prayer. 
Consequently the Church instructs us in this most sacred 
duty and privilege. 



ANALYSIS AXD EXPLICATION. 



87 



The Lord's Prayer, — In studying this wonderful 
form of devotion, and preparing to expound it to Cate- 
chumens, attention should be given to its construction ; 
and its experimental character. 



THE KTJLE OF CHRISTIAN PRAYEK 
THE LORD'S PRAYER. 

CONSTRUCTION. 

1. Invocation. Recognizing the Divine 



2. Supplication : as to 



Greatness. 
Goodness. 
Our belief of 

his favor. 
Name or char- 
acter. 
Authority. 
_ Will. 

n . . J ^ ecesslties \ Spiritual. 
Ourselves, in \ > r 

Deliverances J Temporal. 
*- 1 Eternal. 



God, in respect to His 



_ _ f An Ascription of praise. 

3 - D0S0l0gy: \ A Declaration of faith. 



EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTER. 



Our — The community of Believers in privileges: no 
selfishness exists in true prayer. 

Father — The confidence of certain faith. The Spirit 
of adoption. It is Christian prayer. 

Who art in heaven — Here is implied reverence, hu- 
mility, and an acknowledgment of the Sovereignty 
of God. 

Hallowed be thy name — Name is put for character, 
the whole character of God is the subject of our 
prayer. 



88 CATECHISING. 

Thy kingdom come — That kingdom which Christ 
promised should be universal. 

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven — That is, 
entirely, cheerfully, unanimously. 

Give us this day our daily bread — Necessaries, not 
luxuries ; day by day, we do not ask for blessings for 
to-morrow. Here are implied patience, resignation, and 
confidence. So of spiritual necessaries; we ask for 
spiritual strength and grace sufficient for the one day. 

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who tres- 
pass against us — We ask with acknowledgment of 
sin, with repentance, and with the spirit of charity. 

Lead us not into temptation — We have a sense of 
danger; we are submissive, we do not ask to be en- 
tirely free, but not to be tempted above that which 
divine grace will enable us to bear. 

But deliver us from evil — Evils of sin ; and the evils 
of life. 

For thine is the kingdom — Is, of right ; and is now. 

And the power — Therefore we may trust thee. 

And the glory — For in assured faith, we give thanks 
for the blessings which our Father has promised, and 
confiding in his love for our Saviour's sake we glorify 
his grace as if we had already received the mercy. 

For ever and ever — Eternity shall witness to Thy 
majesty, ,and to our fidelity of love, and to the earnest- 
ness of our gratitude. 

Amen — So may it be. 

The Covenanted agreement is now considered as hav- 
ing been formed, signed, and sealed ; the terms executed 
in purpose ; and prayer offered. It is reasonable then 



ANALYSIS AND EXPLICATION. 89 

for us to ask what helps and outward assistances does 
God offer to his children thus covenanted with Hiru. 
These helps and assistances are termed Sacraments. 

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMEXTS. 

Their design and use is first explained. 
They are positive institutions ; not natural pro- 
visions, but a positive provision by the Almighty. 
Their nature is shown by five marks : 

1. An outward and visible sign, 

2. An inward and spiritual grace. 

3. The divine authority for the one : and for the 
other. 

4. They are authorized as a means of grace. 

5. And also as a pledge of grace. 

Both Sacraments are examined by these tests : and 
all alleged sacraments are to be tested by the same. 

The propriety of the Baptism of Infants being some- 
times doubted, our Church provides that her Pastors 
shall give the reasons for Infant Baptism. As in 
other cases, so in this, the Church does not argue ; she 
teaches. And so should those who attempt to instruct 
Catechumens. 



8* 



CATECHISING. 



CHAPTER V. 

MODE OF CATECHISING. 

The most important suggestion is that the Questions 
of the Catechism should be broken up into many ques- 
tions, at least sufficient in number to exhibit every 
important point contained in the original question, ex- 
hibiting each separately and distinctly. 

A suggestion only second in importance is that 
scholars should be carried along by questions in a 
series, toward the conclusion which the Catechist has 
in mind. 

SPECIMENS. 

A specimen is given, by a series of direct questions. 

On God's Commandments. 

Tell me how many they are ? 

No others ? Why ? Are all other sins forbidden ? 
(For example, the Ninth Commandment forbids all 
other sins of the same class ; false witness, evil speak- 
ing, lying, slandering.) 

Are all other duties commanded? (For example, 
the Fifth Commandment enjoins reverence for and obe- 
dience of parents, civil authorities, teachers, spiritual 
pastors, and masters.) 
90 



MODE OF CATECHISING. 91 

Are these Commandments binding upon us ? 

Who spake ? Where ? When ? 

Under what circumstances ? 

What is the book of Exodus? What is Exodus? 

What argument does God use to incline Israel to 
obey? 

How does God try to persuade Israel to obey Him ? 

Who brought them up out of Egypt ? 

Was it not Moses ? 

Where is Egypt ? 

Who were the Israelites ? 

How did Israel get to Egypt ? Why did they stay 
there ? 

What is a house of bondage ? 

What sort of bondage was this ? 

Had they hard labor ? 

How were they delivered ? 

By what Plagues ? River to blood. 

Plague of Frogs, and eight other plagues. 

Were these plagues miracles? What is a miracle? 

Could Moses have done them ? 

Would Pharaoh have suffered the Israelites to go 
unless he had suffered these plagues ? 

Then who led them out ? 

Ought they not then to have been glad to obey God ? 

Are we in bondage ? Are we born so ? 

Who is our Pharaoh ? 

What are the task-masters he sets over us ? 

(Envy, hatred, evil thinking, evil speaking, pro- 
fanity, folly, sin.) 

Who is our Moses ? 

What does He do for us ? 



92 CATECHISING. 

How does He lead us out ? 

(By giving us his Holy Spirit to make us hate sin.) 

(By giving us his Holy Spirit to help us get the 
better of sin.) 

(By forgiving us, and making us love Him better than 
we love sin.) 

Ought we not to love to obey this Saviour ? 

A second example is given by a series of questions 
which elicit thought and lead the Catechumen gradually 
to the conclusion which the Pastor desires. 

On the Eighth Commandment. 

What is stealing ? 

If I take what belongs to another is that stealing ? 
Yes (answered impulsively, without sufficient thought). 

But he sees me, and is willing ? (former reply recon- 
sidered) No ; in that case it is not stealing. 

If I take it without his consent ? That is stealing. 

But he sees me take it ? That does not alter it, but 
it may make it a greater sin, robbery. 

If I take it without his knowledge ? That would be 
stealing. 

But suppose he is willing that I should take it, 
although he does not see me? That would not be 
stealing. 

Definition of Stealing. Then to steal is to take some- 
thing that belongs to somebody else without his knowl- 
edge and consent. 

Why is it wrong ? Has God forbidden it ? 

Has not every one a right to enjoy his own, as much 
as we to enjoy our own? 



MODE OF CATECHISING. 93 

But suppose one's neighbor has more than is good for 
him ? does not know how to enjoy what he possesses (a 
miser) ? or how to keep it (an idiot) ? has gained it by 
stealing (a thief)? keeps it only because he is strong 
(a robber and tyrant) ? will not miss it ? may not one 
who needs it very much take a portion? Does the 
value of what is stolen make any difference in the 
sin? 

Negative side. 

What does this law forbid you to do ? 

It forbids common stealing? house stealing? horse 
stealing ? Man stealing ? Taking advantage of another's 
ignorance or necessities ? (as in shopping ; ordinary mar- 
keting ; brokerage in stocks or wheat or cattle, etc., if 
the ignorant or necessitous are thereby cheated ; use of 
false weights and measures ?) Keeping back just wages ? 
paying unfair wages ? borrowing without any hope of 
paying? gathering the money of others into a Savings 
Bank or other Bank, and refusing or making oneself 
unable to pay it back? or running away with it? re- 
ceiving stolen goods ? using stolen goods, as in fraudu- 
lent bankruptcy? 

What Commandment would you break by pretending 
to be poor, and so getting charity ? 

Did Gehazi steal from IMaainan ? 

Positive side. 

What does this Law require us to be ? 

> in all our dealings, and 

Charitable to the poor ; to those in necessity. 
May we get others to steal for us ? 
May we tempt others to steal ? 



94 CATECHISING. 

May we carelessly or thoughtlessly put temptation in 
the way? 

(X.B. Parents or masters have no right to tempt 
children or servants by carelessly leaving money, 
jewelry , or any objects of desire in their way.) 

Had we not better keep as far away as possible from 
stealing ? 

If we covet do we not come near stealing ? 

How does God look upon covetousness ? 

Therefore be generous : which is to get as " far away 
as possible" from covetousness. 

Do not steal from God time, or talents. 

In all efforts to impress truth upon our children, the 
Bible is to be our text book. The Church Catechism 
is part of a system of home or parish Biblical instruction. 

Blunt gives the following illustration of Scriptural 
Catechising : 

" We will suppose, for example's sake, the parish 
priest to enter his school, whilst the twelfth chapter of 
St. Matthew happens to be in reading ; for I presume 
him to drop in from time to time, as his other avoca- 
tions allow him ; which, so long as the school is his 
own, and the superintendence of it under his own eye, 
he can do, but no longer. ' And when he was de- 
parted thence, he went into their synagogue : and, behold, 
there was a man which had his hand withered. And 
they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the 
Sabbath days ? that they might accuse him/ etc. Now 
the passage affords him a fair opportunity of speaking 
on the subject of the Sabbath. Accordingly, he may 
deliver, if he pleases, a short address, taking this Scrip- 



MODE OF CATECHISING. 95 

ture for his text: not a word, of which, in all prob- 
ability, would they carry away with them ; or be able, 
or willing to communicate to their friends, for instance, 
when they get home at night. Not so, on the other 
hand, if he put the matter to them in a series of 
questions, something after this manner : 

What are we told God, Himself, did on the Sabbath ? 

Why then do you suppose that day was called 
Sabbath ? 

If God so acted by that day, how ought we to act 
by it? 

Still, what did Jesus Christ do on the Sabbath, as 
here described? 

But if it was a work to heal the man with the with- 
ered hand, what kind of work was it ? 

Was it only a wonderful work ? 

If then it was a work of charity, what sort of works 
may be done on the Sabbath, though it is a day of rest? 

Again, — There is something said about a sheep ; what 
is supposed to have happened to it ? 

On what day ? 

What did you say it fell into ? 

Did Jesus think it right that it should be pulled out ? 

Why might it not have been left until another day ? 

Was it, then, a work of charity only ? 

Of what else was it a work ? 

If then it was a work of necessity, what other kind 
of works are lawful on that day ? 

When, therefore, the commandment says, 'in it 
thou shalt do no manner of work/ what works are ex- 
cepted, nevertheless?"* 

* Blunt, p. 187. 



96 CATECHISING. 

Dixon and Smith's Catechism is the best guide and 
help which I have seen for illustrating the Catechism 
by Scripture. I quote from their Book an illustration 
of their method. They are treating of the Divinity of 
Christ. 

" Jesus Christ has been considered as the Saviour and 
as the Anointed of God ; we must now consider him 
as the ' only Son' of God, and as i our Lord : ? a 
part of our belief of such importance as to demand a 
distinct and separate discussion. What evidence have 
we that Jesus Christ is the only Son of God ? 

1. We have the witness of men. Thou art Christ, 
the Son of the living God. St. Matt, xvi.,16. We 
beheld his glory, as of the only begotten of the Father. 
St. John i. 14. The only begotten Son, etc. St. John 
i. 18. I saw and bear record that this is the Son of 
God. St. John i. 34. 

2. We have the witness of Christ himself. Art 
thou the Son of the Blessed ? and he said, I am. St. 
Mark xix. 61, 62. God — gave his only begotten Son. 
St. John iii. 16. The Son of God— is he that talketh 
with thee. St. John ix. 36, 37. I said, I am the Son 
of God. St. John x. 36. 

3. We have also the witness of God the Father. 
Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Ps. 
ii. 7 ; Acts xiii. 33 ; Heb. i. 5 ; v. 5. This is my 
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. St. Matt, 
iii. 17. 

Jesus Christ is also our Lord. 

The Lord said unto my Lord, etc. Ps. ex. 1 ; St. 
Matt. xxii. 44. That every tongue should confess that 
Jesus Christ is Lord. Phil. ii. 11. Who is King of 



MODE OF CATECHS1NG. 97 

Kings, and Lord of Lords. 1 Tim. vi. 15; Rev. xvii. 
14; xix. 16. (See also St. John xiii. 13.)" 

Manner of arranging for Catechising, 

Catechising should always be held publicly in the 
Church. It should be made an important act, and 
a Pastoral act. Elder persons, especially parents or 
guardians, should be induced to be present. [See the 
Rubric] 

Incidentally it may be suggested that the Pastor 
should appear in this duty officially, using an official 
robe : so that the children may at once separate him in 
their ideas from an ordinary teacher. 

First. The children should be required to repeat 
the words of the Catechism ; all of it, and in its exact 
language at each time of Catechising. 

Second. They should be carefully instructed in the 
meaning of the Catechism, all parts of it in turn. 

For this purpose it may be well to divide the Cate- 
chism into twelve or twenty-four parts ; taking one 
portion each month: and so completing the explanation 
of the whole in every year, or in two years. 

The children should be carefully arranged in the 
Church : not indiscriminately. If a few stand, it 
should not be required of them until they become 
weary. It is important to keep up attention, by 
changing your mode of address ; by questioning, now 
classes, now individuals. It is a good plan to connect 
the Catechising with a monthly gathering of Schools 
for a Missionary meeting ; or with a sermon to chil- 
dren. By all means, and primarily, the Catechising 
must not be allowed to become wearisome. 



98 CATECHISING. 

Advice to a Catechist. 

Careful preparation is to be made, at least as careful 
as for preaching. 

The qualifications required in a Pastor for this diffi- 
cult duty are gentleness ; patience; (impatience is fre- 
quently made apparent in irritation at indifference, or 
inattention, or restlessness ;) familiarity in address; and 
seriousness, carefully avoiding levity. Brevity should 
be studied. Concentration should be aimed at; but 
allowing for ample illustration. Unity should be ob- 
served : avoiding too many topics, and avoiding the 
frequent passing from one to another topic. 

The way to keep children quiet is to be interesting : 
I do not say try to be interesting, which will almost 
certainly miss the mark ; but so fill yourself with the 
subject, and be so full of love for children, that your 
interest will turn into what they will feel to be a 
fascination. 

" Gentleness and patience are the first qualifications ; 
ridicule is unpardonable ; hardly less so is embarrassing 
a child in the presence of the others. Gentleness 
should be paternal, but manly. Love for children is 
the sure means of an amiable deportment toward them, 
and will happily replace an affectedly mild and evasive 
manner. As to familiarity, it should certainly not be 
wanting but it should be serious" 

Vinet says, " we must prepare ourselves well for the 
Catechising, and not say to ourselves, I have only to 
■speak to children ; for in this, as in everything, ' maxima 
debetur puero reverentia." 

The Rev. Daniel Moore, in his " Thoughts on 
Preaching,'" says, " Among the causes which have led 



MODE OF CATECHISING. 99 

to the neglect of catechising, is a current belief, that 
a peculiar faculty is required for drawing out the 
powers of youth; that it is not every man ;vho can 
throw himself back into the mental processes of 
childhood, and look into the busy hives of thought 
before him, as if himself were young again ; in a 
word, a lurking idea that catechising is a gift We 
believe it to be just as much a gift as swimming is a 
gift. And that in the one as in the other, it is compe- 
tent to most of us to succeed, if we will but try. As 
parochial ministers, we are accustomed, it is presumed, 
sometimes to take a class in our schools. We know 
what methods we are in the habit of adopting with 
children there ; how we lay ourselves out to stimulate 
and exercise their powers of reflection and thought; 
how we lead up, by faintly indicated lines, to the an- 
swer we are seeking ; how we avoid those ambiguously- 
worded questions, which may be rightly answered in 
more ways than one ; how we never have recourse to 
a remote analogy, when we can find one to our purpose 
under their own eyes ; how we try to bring out what 
they know, rather than mortify them by a discovered 
ignorance; how we proceed onwards from their last 
answer, as if they had supplied us with a new form of 
illustration; and how we keep working, round and 
round, to bring them to a conclusion, taking care, 
meanwhile, so to make use of their words and replies 
as that the conclusion shall seem to be their own. Most 
of us, we say, can do this. And yet, what is there in 
public Catechising, which makes the same thing diffi- 
cult in the Church, that we find easy in the school ? 
It should be considered by us as preaching; made use 



1 00 CA TECHISIXG. 

of as preaching ; prepared for as preaching. The ill us- ' 
trative simile, the close appeal to the conscience, the 
well-pointed lesson of practice, ought to be thought out 
beforehand, as much as if they were intended for a 
sermon. There should be no attempt to hide the fact, 
that, besides doing good to the children, we have an 
ulterior object, that we have a deliberate design upon 
the citadel of the adult heart, and are employing the 
children to work in the trenches. If the benefit to the 
children were the only thing considered, we might ob- 
tain it in the school. We carry on the exercise in the 
presence of a congregation, because the method sup- 
plies us with another variety of teaching for a class, 
who, though not more than 'children in understand- 
ing/ yet in any other exercise than this, would expect 
to be addressed as men. 'Be it so/ we say, in the 
words of the Apostle in another case, i I did not bur- 
den you : nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with 
guile/ "* 

* Moore, p. 314-317. 



J* 



CONFIRMATION. 



PRELUDE. 



Our Church system leads from the Catechetical Class 
to Confirmation. It is to be expected that " a member 
of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the 
kingdom of heaven," after having been thoroughly 
instructed in his obligations as a Catechumen, will 
immediately acknowledge and ratify them in Confir- 
mation. The next succeeding step will be to listen to 
Preaching, and thus become prepared to take the last 
step in external profession, by partaking of the Lord^ 
Supper. Such is the system of the Church, patterned 
not only after the system of the Apostolic and Primi- 
tive Church, but entirely according to the theory of 
the Gospel. Alas ! as in many critical moments of 
life, so in this, theory and fact do not always run 
parallel or coincide. 

In the arrangement of our topics we follow this 
order of sequences. The topic of a right preparation 
for the next step in the religious life of a Baptized 
Catechumen follows naturally : and its consideration 
should include not only suggestions which may assist 
the Pastor in his instructions, but such as will serve 
as a guide to a sincere inquirer as to the nature and 
authority of the Ordinance, and as to his fitness for 
receiving it. 

9* 101 



PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF PROPER PREPARATION. 

We approach a subject of intense interest. For 
upon the character of those who are admitted to confir- 
mation depends the character of our Church : and by 
the fidelity and skill which a Pastor shows in this min- 
istration, must his pastoral ability, in a great degree, be 
measured, and his conscience before God be burdened or 
discharged. 

Our Church has fully recognized the important place 
which Apostles gave to the Ordinance of Confirmation 
It is the door to all external privileges of advanced fel- 
lowship. Especially is it the door to the privileges of 
Holy Communion. According to the rubric, as well as 
to general practice under it, a person who has been con- 
firmed has a right without further question to be consid- 
ered as a Communicant. This right cannot be touched 
except by way of discipline. Consequently careful in- 
struction and examination of a Candidate before admis- 
sion to confirmation, becomes a high religious duty for 
every Pastor who would effectually guard the purity 
of his Communion. If uninstructed, or partially in- 
structed, if too young and too little experienced, these 
young Christians will form a community exposed to 
102 



ITS IMPORTANCE. 103 

the temptations of headiness and high-mindedness, of 
inconstancy and vacillation, of rashness and incon- 
siderate activity. Whilst, if there be any want of 
fidelity in guarding against spiritual unqualification, 
that Church will have a Communion characterized by 
unfaithfulness to Christ, inconsistency in conduct, 
spiritual unhappiness and those follies of a worldly 
mind, or crimes, which disgrace religion and bring 
shame upon the Christian community. On the con- 
trary, if the Pastor is discreet and w T ise, and as firm as 
he is faithful, he will gather around him only those 
whom the Holy Spirit is leading to a true Communion 
with the Saviour. And such a Church will be charac- 
terized by religion which glorifies Christ, and brings 
unspeakable comfort to the Pastor's heart. Candidates 
may be fewer. The list of Communicants may increase 
more slowly. The Church may not be as widely noted 
for what a misjudging world calls success. Bat every 
addition will be permanent. The Communion list will 
exhibit fewer erasures — those sad tokens of ministerial 
unfaithfulness ; the necessity for making them often 
brings infinite distress to the faithful successor of one 
whose laxity in examining candidates has been real 
disloyalty to Christ. And that Church, growing by a 
constant gathering of the Lord's own people, will in 
His time become a glory of Christ, and a praise among 
all discriminating observers. 

But the subject has a deeper, because a more pressing 
interest, to the Pastor himself. It is at this point 
chiefly that he is brought into contact with the re- 
ligious experiences of his people. It is not easy to 
exaggerate the delight with which an earnest Pastor 



104 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

receives the first intimation that a soul under his charge 
is ready to accept the Saviour's call. He has been 
preaching with all his wisdom and all his energies, to 
bring his people near to this Saviour. But in the 
pulpit, he seems isolated. He does not touch hearts. 
He shoots his arrows at a venture. He knows not 
where the w^ord is falling ; nor what seed the Spirit is 
quickening. He labors on, in patience of faith, which 
is always a state of trial to a minister ; and often in 
long deferred hope, which is heart sickness. 

Oh ! the luxury of that moment, when he hears, for 
the first time, that one who has been forgetful of re- 
ligious obligations, or has heretofore seemed ignorant 
of the loving mercies of Christ, is anxious to be led to 
Him. The reward for years of labor is concentrated 
in that moment. At once he passes from the mere 
teacher into the Pastor. He no longer deals in gen- 
eralities, but with a living personal experience. And 
as he now takes this friend by the hand, and leads him 
step by step into the presence, and up to the fellowship 
of his own most gracious Lord, it is an hour of in- 
tensest interest. 

In our Church, this personal contact with the re- 
ligious experiences of our people generally commences 
when we begin to prepare a Class for Confirmation. 
And subsequently we will probably find that the 
seasons of deepest religious interest among our people 
will lie nearest to these seasons of Confirmation. It is 
the natural association in our Church. Among us 
Confirmation is understood to be the expression of a 
purpose to lead a godly life. Consequently anxiety on 
the subject of religion generally gives its first expres- 



ITS IMPORTANCE. 105 

si on to the Pastor in the desire to be confirmed. This 
is to be regretted on many accounts. And yet it has 
its compensations, especially as respects a young Pastor; 
for it enables him to concentrate his instructions. As 
the method of dealing with personal experiences, is, in 
some particulars, new to him, it gives opportunity to 
leave general lessons, and fix his mind on this particu- 
lar point. The congregation expect him to be assiduous 
in dealing with these cases, both in private and in 
public. And thus he becomes both more quickly fur- 
nished, and more efficient in the work. Later in our 
Ministry, the peculiarity to which I have referred as 
an evil will not be apparent. Those who are anxious 
about religion, will not conceal their thoughts from 
their Pastor, nor defer their decisions, after they shall 
have learned that they can safely confide in his judg- 
ment and friendship. 

It is a moment of intense interest. If the inquirer 
is rightly prepared, the Ordinance will open innumerable 
blessings. If unprepared, it will be the gate of sorrow; 
it may be the gate of spiritual death. At once then 
all our powers are brought into concentrated action. 
We review our knowledge, recollect our experience, 
quicken our faculties of judgment and discrimination. 
We are to deal gently and with a heart full of Christ's 
love lest we break a bruised reed. We are to deal 
faithfully and fearlessly, lest we cry peace, when the 
Holy Spirit has not spoken peace. And we are labor- 
iously to inform each mind, in order that no one who 
has been confirmed shall thereafter be carried about by 
winds of doctrine, or by unstable and deceitful guides. 

The Pastor's responsibility is greatly complicated by 



106 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

the strange phases of religious experience which he will 
now meet. - He is to be ready with a solution or with 
advice for all difficulties, doubts, hesitancies, perplex- 
ities. He can approach the task hopefully, only if he 
has been strengthened by prayer, and relies calmly on 
the sustaining grace of God. In many a difficulty 
human wisdom is entirely at fault. For many a per- 
plexity his own experience has no parallel. But there 
is none in which God's word and believing prayer do 
not furnish a sufficient resource. 

The Pastor's responsibility in preparing Candidates 
for Confirmation cannot then be measured. His sense 
of it will depend on his conscientiousness. 

The whole burden of responsibility lies on the Pastoi\ 
By the policy of the Church, the Bishop does not even 
share the responsibility of selecting Candidates. He 
confirms those who are presented to him. And this is 
wisely ordered ; for no one except the Pastor can be 
intimately acquainted with the Candidate's state of 
mind. In some Dioceses, a form of presentation is in 
use, for the purpose both of defining the Pastor's re- 
sponsibility to the people, and of impressing it on his 
own mind. 

In one instance, a Bishop over-rode a Pastor's de- 
cision, and confirmed a candidate whom the Pastor had 
rejected. Public opinion in the Church was at that 
time greatly excited on the subject ; and after full dis- 
cussion affirmed the Pastor's sole responsibility. 

This topic extends through several divisions of our 
general subject. It belongs partly to Instruction, and 
partly to Administration. A fulfilment of the duty 
will require right preaching, right catechising, right pas- 



ITS IMPORTANCE. 107 

toral visiting, and right parochial arrangements. But 
to treat it thus in parts, would be to destroy the unity 
of the theme. It is practically of the first importance 
that impressions on this subject shall be unconfused, 
distinct and decided. I therefore bring together at this 
point all that I desire to say on the topic of preparing 
Candidates for Confirmation. 

If a reason be needed for placing this topic so closely 
under the shadow of Catechising, other than that it fol- 
lows in the order of church life, it may be found in the 
fact that this instruction is modified catechising. Can- 
didates are to be instructed ; taught : to be considered 
and treated not as equals in knowledge, but as pupils ; 
and allowing for difference in age, are to be taught the 
Catechism : and in many particulars as children are 
taught it ; and in classes. Whenever it is possible they 
are to be taught by echo ; induced to learn by heart 
and repeat truths. Especially, pains are to be taken to 
instil the words and meaning of the Catechism. It is 
often greatly needed. Moore says, " It is to be feared 
we take it for granted, that our people know a great 
deal more than they do. They may have a correct 
understanding of isolated doctrines of the faith, but of 
the relation of these truths, one to the other, and of 
their coherence, as one compact whole of Divine phi- 
losophy, it may be believed, that their views are any- 
thing but clear, and anything but perfect." u Baxter 
was amazed," we are told, " at the lamentable ignorance 
of numbers of persons who had been regular attendants 
at his Church, for ten or twelve years, and who yet, in 
one hour's familiar instruction, seemed to learn more 
than in all their previous lives." Insomuch that, when 



108 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

he was advanced in years, we find him writing, " Now 
it is the fundamental doctrines of the Catechism which 
I highliest value, and daily think of, and find most 
useful to myself and others. The Creed, the Lord's 
Prayer, and the Ten Commandments find me now the 
most acceptable and plentiful matter for all my medita- 
tions." 

Frequently Candidates for Confirmation are too old 
to be subject to direct catechetical instruction. In all 
cases, a certain amount of instruction will be more 
profitably given by public discourse than in any other 
way. An " Echo" should be required, as far as possi- 
ble, during our Pastoral visitations : inquiry being then 
made as to whether our public instructions have been 
properly received. 

The necessary instructions are partly Intellectual; 
and partly Spiritual ; but I consider them in the order 
of time, not in the order of importance. 

Intellectual ])reparation is generally given in public, 
in the pulpit or lecture-room. Indeed as it is often of 
great value to those who are not Candidates, and is in- 
tended to lead the general congregation to consider the 
subject, publicity should be preferred. Besides, even 
if it be confined to the Candidates, it should be given 
by lectures to a class ; otherwise the business of instruc- 
tion becomes so onerous as not to be within the reach 
of ordinary strength. Two topics are presented ; 

The Ordinance of Confirmation ; and 

The Doctrines of the Church. 



PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ITS HISTORY, AUTHORITY, PERPETUITY, AND IN- 
TENTION. 

The Ordinance of Confirmation. 

Many false notions are current as to its authority, 
intention, and value. Some persons, even in our own 
congregations, regard it as superstitious ; many as 
useless. 

The Minister is to show, in the first place, his own 
sense of its importance. He must make much of it in 
his instructions. It is wise to prepare a course of 
sermons giving a well considered view of the whole 
topic : and to throw into this preparation all the zeal, 
wisdom, and tact which he possesses. 

Six points will sufficiently exhaust the theme.* 

The History of the Ordinance. — The idea which un- 
derlies the Rite is connected with pious observances 
among God's ancient people. Jewish infants were 
admitted into the Covenant, and shared in Ecclesiastical 
privileges by Circumcision, when they were only eight 
days old. The Law of Moses required Parents tc 

* Vide Tyng on Confirmation. 

10 109 



HO PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

impress upon their children a sense of their obligations 
to that Covenant, by ruling that all male children at 
an early age should attend the three annual festivals. 
Here is the seed thought out of which the idea of 
Confirmation sprang; for here was an early public 
profession by Jewish children of attachment to the 
Covenant; and this is traced historically throughout 
the Mosaical dispensation. The idea had taken a still 
more definite shape before our Saviour's times. For 
we are told that at the Christian era, it was the custom 
to bring Jewish children, at thirteen years of age, to 
the House of God, in order that their Covenantal 
rights should be recognized. This recognition took 
place by an examination before the Doctors of the 
Law, and was accompanied by appropriate ceremonials. 
The Candidates were expected to be versed in the 
principles of the Law, and to be able to repeat the 
legal prayers. If approved they were placed before 
the congregation, and called "children of the precept." 

They were thenceforward considered capable of obey- 
ing the Law, under obligations to it, and answerable 
for their own sins. 

Our Saviour complied with this custom ; at an earlier 
age than was usual. For Jesus was only twelve years 
old, when having accompanied his parents to Jerusalem 
to worship, according to the Law, he tarried behind to 
present himself to the Babbies, and undergo the usual 
examinations. Out of this custom sprang an idea, like 
many others in the Jewish system, easily adopted into 
the Christian Church. The Apostles were familiar 
with it. It was no new thing for those who at the 
time when they were circumcised had entered into 



APOSTOLIC HISTORY. HI 

privileges of which they were unconscious, to assume 
the responsibility of that Sacrament publicly so soon 
as they became fully conscious of the duty. It is in- 
teresting to note that this reasonable and wise practice 
became part of the regular system of the Church so 
soon as it began to take a settled form. Yet I do not 
mean to say that this Jewish custom was more than a 
seed thought. Its fruit was developed into a Christian 
Ordinance by the authority of Christ, under the imme- 
diate inspiration of the Holy Spirit; and this Ordinance 
wherever it has been strictly administered has always 
glowed with gracious purposes from beneath the finger 
of its Divine originator. 

Its history in the Apostolic age is brief. Subse- 
quently to the day of Pentecost the Apostles continued 
at Jerusalem preaching the Gospel. After the martyr- 
dom of Saint Stephen and the consequent persecution, 
the disciples were scattered abroad ; the Apostles still 
remaining at Jerusalem. Among those who went out 
into the provinces to preach the new truth, Philip, one 
of the lately ordained Deacons, became an Evangelist 
to Samaria. AVhile there he baptized many. This 
good news coming to the Church at Jerusalem, Peter 
and John were commissioned to follow Philip ; for, as 
the historian remarks, "as yet the Holy Ghost had 
fallen upon none" of these new disciples, "only they 
were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." The 
Apostles therefore being come down prayed for them 
that they might receive the Holy Ghost, " Then laid 
they their hands on them, and they received the Holy 
Ghost." This was the first recorded Confirmation in 
the Church of Christ. The Apostolicity of this Rite 



112 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

is justly inferred from this record. But at present we 
point only to the fact that its main features accurately 
tally with the Ordinance as afterwards spoken of in 
the Acts, in early Church history, and as now practised 
by our own Episcopate. 

The next record of Confirmation is by the Apostle 
Paul. 

The account implies that it had already become cus- 
tomary in the Church. The Apostle was visiting the 
Churches, setting in order what was wanting. Arriv- 
ing at Ephesus, he found a body of religious men who 
among surrounding heathen, bore the name of Naza- 
renes. His first inquiry concerned confirmation ; "Have 
ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed ?" Ob- 
serve : he did not first ask as to their baptism, nor as to 
their faith ; but as to whether they had received the 
laying on of hands. To my mind the inference is very 
strong, that even at that early date, the laying on of 
hands had become a custom of the Church, and that 
Apostles' visitations had relation in part, at least, to this 
purpose. We may imagine his surprise when they re- 
plied, " We have not so much as heard whether there 
be any Holy Ghost." Their whole foundation was 
defective. He therefore first laid a true foundation, 
substituting for John's baptism that which the Baptist 
had foretold, baptism in the name of Christ. Then, 
how significantly the fact comes out ! notwithstanding 
that the Apostle himself had baptized and admitted 
them into the Covenant, it was not enough. He must 
Confirm them. Consequently u he laid his hands upon 
them, and they received the Holy Ghost." 

Four particulars should be observed, whilst we trace 



EARLY CHURCH HISTORY. H3 

the subsequent history of Confirmation. They are always 
observable in this administration by Apostles ; and by 
these marks a right Confirmation may be recognized. 

The officiating persons ; Apostles. 

The recipients ; those who have been baptized. 

The Apostolic prayer ; that they might receive the 
Holy Ghost. 

The Apostolic Act ; the imposition of hands upon 
the head of the Candidate. 

Notwithstanding additions which from time to time 
it has received under corrupt forms of Christianity, it 
has always retained these four marks, and at present 
exists among us under this precise form. 

In the year 200, Tertullian, having spoken of the 
rites of Baptism, proceeds, " After Baptism the hand 
is imposed, by blessing, calling and inviting the Holy 
Spirit. " In the year 250, Cyprian, a Bishop, com- 
menting on the visit of St. Peter and St. John to the 
Baptized in Samaria, says, " Which custom is also de- 
scended to us, that they who are baptized might be 
brought by the Rulers of the Church, and by our prayer 
and the imposition of hands, may obtain the Holy 
Ghost, and be consummated with the Lord's signature." 
Again : " They who have received lawful and ecclesias- 
tical baptism, it is not necessary that they should be 
baptized again ; but that which is wanting must be sup- 
plied, namely, that prayer being made for them and 
hands imposed, the Holy Ghost be invocated and poured 
upon them." A little later in the same century Euse- 
bius reports that Novatius was much censured, because, 
having been baptized when he was upon a sick-bed and 
at the point of death, and afterwards recovering, he 

10* 



114 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

neglected to be "consigned with the Lord's signature by 
the hands of the Bishop." Such a testimony is evi- 
dence of the existence of a custom in that age. Mel- 
chiades in the fourth century argues the necessity of 
Confirmation against the supposed objection that the 
Holy Ghost being received in baptism renders any 
further Ordinance useless. In the latter part of the 
same century Jerome thus speaks concerning the Kite : 
"Do you ask me where this is written? In the Acts 
of the Apostles. But if there was no authority of 
Scripture at all for it, the consent of the whole world 
to this point might well challenge the force of a pre- 
cept." And again ; he thus describes Episcopal visita- 
tions fourteen hundred years ago, in terms accurately 
applicable to our own times: "As for those who are 
baptized afar off in the lesser towns by the presbyters 
and deacons, the Bishop travels out to them to lay 
hands upon them and to invoke the Holy Spirit." 

That it was the habit to confine this administration 
to Bishops, one or two testimonies may suffice. St. 
Chrysostom writes, " The power of giving the Holy 
Spirit was peculiar to the Apostles ; whence it comes 
to pass that the chiefs in the Church and no others do 
this." Dionysius says, " There is need of a Bishop to 
confirm the baptized ; for this was the ancient custom 
of the Church." " This was wont to be done by the 
Bishops, to conserve unity in the Church of Christ," 
saith Ambrose. " By Bishops only," saith St. Austin. 
■" For the Bishops succeeded in the place and ordinary 
office of the Apostles," saith St. Jerome. 

Thus at a distance of four hundred years from Apos- 
tolic times confirmation was the custom of the Church ; 



MEDIAEVAL HISTORY. 115 

its use was defended as an imitation of Apostolic prac- 
tice, and it had been perpetuated from Apostolic times. 
The Ordinance had become corrupted even at that early 
day, and lacked much of its original simplicity and 
evangelical character : nevertheless its characteristic fea- 
tures remained unchanged. It was still the laying on 
of Apostolic hands upon the heads of those who had 
been baptized with prayer for the gifts of the Holy 
Spirit. 

During the thousand years next succeeding, this 
Ordinance did not fare better than other Apostolic 
usages. The Romish Church surrounded it with use- 
less superstitions, which to this day, in that community, 
deprive it of Apostolic simplicity. Such are, anointing 
the Candidates with a mysterious unction composed of 
oil and balsam, supposed to obtain a mystical virtue 
by the act of consecration ; repeating the sign of the 
Cross on the forehead ; striking a blow upon the 
cheek, instead of laying on of hands; and allowing 
children of seven years of age to partake of the Rite. 

Its history since the Reformation among Protestant 
churches. — Thus buried under superstitions, this Ordi- 
nance was untombed by our Reformers. Some Re- 
formers cast it away with other good things which the 
Romish Church had preserved; rejecting that which 
was Apostolical as if it were Romish, because it had 
come through Romish channels. Most of the Re- 
formers however attempted to restore it to its proper 
place. The Lutherans, who did not retain the Epis- 
copal office, yet retained this Rite ; and committed its 
administration to Presbyters. The Church of Geneva, 
which at first rejected, afterwards restored this Rite, 



116 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

and provided a form for its administration. All Epis- 
copal Churches retained it in its purity. Such was the 
course of the Moravian Church and the Church of 
Sweden : and such the course of the Church of Eng- 
land. " It is," says Bishop Mcllvaine, " one of the 
instances of that eminent wisdom and moderation with 
which the Church of England conducted her reforma- 
tion from the corruptions of the Papacy, that this 
Ordinance instead of being renounced as grievously 
corrupted, was cleansed, reformed, and retained, because, 
though defiled and corrupted, it was still Apostolic. 
As she retained the Scriptures, although found at the 
Reformation almost buried under the traditions of 
men, and joined in equal fellowship with books unin- 
spired; as she retained Episcopacy, though crushed 
under the polluting foot of Popery ; and the Liturgy, 
though mingled in all directions with idolatrous ser- 
vices to the Virgin and Saints and Angels; not think- 
ing that the pure gold was any the less to be valued 
and kept because it had been associated with wood, 
hay, stubble; so did she retain the Laying on of 
hands, as derived from the Apostles, and intended for 
the Church in all age-." 

With like discretion and judiciousness the Fathers 
of our own Protestant Episcopal Church retained this 
holy Ordinance. They found it among the practices 
of the Church of England, pure, simple, majestic, and 
apostolical, both in the form of its administration and 
in its sacred purpose. So it continues to our own 
day. 



AUTHORITY AND PERPETUITY. H7 

The Authority and Perpetuity or Perpetual Obligation 
of Confirmation. 

If we place its obligation on the lowest ground, 
considering it merely as a Rite established by the 
Church, its authority would be sufficient. 

Our XX. Article declares, "that the Church hath 
power to decree Rites and Ceremonies," so that it doth 
not " ordain anything contrary to God's word written." 

The Church has decreed Confirmation to be one of 
its permanent "Rites and Ceremonies." Or, appeal- 
ing more distinctly to our ecclesiastical loyalty, we may 
consider it not as a Rite established by the Catholic or 
Universal Church of Christ, but only by our own 
Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. 
Even then it possesses the force of a precept. For 
our XXXIV. Article of Religion says, " Every Par- 
ticular or National Church hath authority to ordain, 
change, and abolish ceremonies or Rites of the Church, 
ordained only by man's authority, so that all things 
be done to edifying." Placing it on this lowest ground; 
our Church has adopted the Rite of Confirmation as 
an appropriate mode of ratifying Baptismal vows. 

This Rite is established as a Law. After the Bap- 
tism of Infants, Sponsors are directed to bring the 
children so baptized in due time to the Bishop. After 
the Baptism of Adults, they are instructed that " it is 
expedient that every person thus baptized should be 
confirmed by the Bishop, so soon after his Baptism as 
convenient may be ; that so he may be admitted to the 
Holy Communion." And the rubric following Con- 
firmation is imperative upon Ministers in admitting to 



118 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

full Communion with our Church : " there shall none 
be admitted to the Holy Communion, until such time 
as he be confirmed, or be ready and desirous to be 
confirmed." The Law is explicit : and upon all good 
members of this Church, loving its order and respecting 
its government, its authority will be held sufficient. 

But we are not content to rest the authority of this 
Rite on such low grounds. History as already shown 
is neither silent nor uncertain respecting it. All along 
the track of the past since the Church received a stable 
policy the progress of this custom is distinctly visible ; 
whilst back into the very presence of the Apostles, 
voices of holy men, in a continual line, audibly testify 
to its perpetual obligation. TTe believe that it was ap- 
pointed by Apostles acting under the influences of the 
Holy Ghost, and with permission of Christ, to be a 
perpetual Ordinance in the Church. 

The two points involved are its Apostolicity, and its 
Permanency. 

By its Apostolicity, we mean that Apostles were ac- 
customed to lay their hands upon the heads of the 
baptized, and to invoke upon them the descent of the 
Holy Spirit. 

Our historical sketch sufficiently certifies the Apos- 
tolic custom. Xo such custom could have been palmed 
upon the Church, as if it were an ordinary habit of 
Apostles. Compare it with some other like observances. 
No one could have introduced the observance of the 
Lord's day as holy, or the administration of Baptism 
to Infants, at a date later than the Apostolic age, and 
at the same time have appealed to an unbroken Apos- 
tolic custom ; nor could these customs have been re- 



AUTHORITY AXD PERPETUITY. H9 

ceived from the earliest ages on an appeal to Apostolic 
example unless they could plead the weight of Apostolic 
precept and habit. 

The argument is the same and of equal force in be- 
half of Confirmation. When writers of the first three 
centuries appeal to the fact that this Ordinance existed 
in their day, having descended to them by a constant 
custom of the Church from the Apostles, we cannot 
doubt that the Apostles had made this administration 
a habit. 

Our own Church expresses no doubt. In " the office 
for the Laying on of hands" it is affirmed that the 
Bishop is following " the example of the Holy Apos- 
tles." 

By the Perpetuity of the Ordinance, we mean that 
the Apostles intended this Ordinance to be perpetual. 
It is but repeating the same thought with a different 
application to say that this intention is to be directly in- 
ferred from the Apostles' example : and again from the 
consideration that no man in the early Church would 
have ventured to declare (as many did declare) that 
such was the Apostles' intention, if such were not the 
fact. 

But the declaration by the Apostle (Hebrews vi. 1, 2) 
that the " Laying on of hands" is one of the first prin- 
ciples of the doctrines of Christ, takes this whole sub- 
ject out of the region of historical proof, and places it 
upon the higher ground of Scriptural doctrine. The 
Ordinance becomes so important when viewed in this 
light, that we ought to give a careful interpretation to 
this passage. " The principles of the doctrine of Christ." 
" Repentance from dead works, and faith towards God, 



120 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, 
and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judg- 
ment." 

The Apostle is about to introduce to the Hebrew 
Christians, the difficult doctrine, of the everlasting 
Priesthood of Messiah. He complains that their slow 
progress in spiritual things hinders him in teaching the 
greater mysteries of the divine plan. " When for the 
time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one 
teach you again, which be the first principles of the 
oracles of God." Yet he must pass by these. " There- 
fore," he continues, " leaving the principles of the doc- 
trine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection : not laying 
again the foundation (that is, the principles) of repent- 
ance from dead works, and of faith towards God, of 
the doctrine of baptisms, and of laving on of hands, 
and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judg- 
ment." 

It is to be observed that all these particulars are 
" first principles of the oracles of God," " the principles 
of the doctrine of Christ," " the foundation" of Chris- 
tian instruction, the food appropriate to " a babe" in 
Christ, to such as are " unskilful in the word of right- 
eousness" : consequently doctrines which they had all 
been taught, and in all of which each of them was per- 
sonally interested. They are elements ; they form the 
very foundation. 

Next, (and it is noticeable for it is very peculiar,) they 
all belong to the department of personal religion. There 
are six doctrines selected with evident design from the 
three departments of a Christian personal experience 
(following Dr. Tyng's interpretation of the passage) : 



A SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE. 121 

u present spiritual preparations of heart ; present exter- 
nal ordinances of profession ; and future sanctions or 
prospects." Using the words of that very discriminating 
writer : 

u They are the two incipient principles in each department. 
As repentance from dead works, and faith towards God. form the 
commencement or foundation of the life of religion in the soul ; 
and the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment, form the 
commencement of the life both of soul and body in the future 
world ; so the doctrine of baptisms, and laying on of hands, form 
the commencement or first principles of a present external pro- 
fession of religion in the Ordinances of Christianity." 

11 These six doctrines are evidently intended by the Apostle to 
be considered as the alphabet of the Christian religion : they are 
of equal importance ; equally to be made subjects of instruction 
to all. Observe their marked juxtaposition. Eepentance. then 
Faith : this is the natural order of acts of scriptural prepara- 
tion of heart. Resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment : 
this is the natural order considered either as events or as doc- 
trines which influence personal religion. And both events are 
necessary to the completion of the eternal life, and both doctrines 
requisite to be believed to the completeness of Christian faith. 
The analogy will surely hold in interpreting the middle member 
of a sentence so nicely balanced. The doctrine of baptisms, and 
of laying on of hands : this is the natural order of external pro- 
fession and of instruction which ought to be given to young dis- 
ciples as to their outward acts of religion. "While baptism must 
precede, the laying on of hands ought to follow: for both are 
doctrines and first principles of personal religion. :; 

The question on which our interpretation turns, is, 
what did the Apostle intend by this "laying on of 
hands' 3 ? We are to look for some Apostolical instruc- 
tion or custom which by its relations to personal re- 
ligion, may be called a doctrine of Christ ; which in 
its application to those who are young in the faith may 

F 11 



122 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

be termed a first principle ; which, as being of personal 
interest to every convert, may be reckoned an element 
of the Gospel ; and which in its nature or in fact, was 
intended to be perpetuated. 

The laying on of hands was practised by the Apostles 
in four ways ; in ordinary benediction, in healing the 
sick, in ordination to the Ministry, and in invoking 
the Holy Ghost upon the baptized. To which of these 
does the Apostle refer ? 

Benediction was administered only to a few, and 
practised only on special occasions, as when a teacher 
was sent upon a distant mission. This cannot be it. 
Imposition of hands to recover from sickness was 
needed by few : and as a fact was not long practised 
in the Church. This cannot be it ; a perpetual element 
of Christianity. Imposition of hands on ordaining to 
the Ministry was required only by a small proportion. 
This cannot be that first principle of the Oracles of 
God, part of the Alphabet of the Gospel, in which 
every novice was interested. 

There was only one other Apostolic custom of laying 
on of hands ; namely, Confirmation. It fulfils all the 
conditions. It relates to personal religion ; it interests 
every convert; and its administration is connected with 
the commencement of a religious life. In the prepara- 
tion for it, as it requires a new spiritual birth ; in its 
nature, as it confirms baptismal engagements ; in its 
universal applicability; and in its fitness to be per- 
petuated, it contains every element of a first principle 
and doctrine of the Gospel. 

Many think it quite sufficient to reply that miracu- 
lous gifts always accompanied this laying on of Apos- 



A SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE. 123 

tolic hands, and therefore, as miraculous gifts have 
ceased, this custom should cease. If the fact were so, 
the conclusion would not be unwarranted ; but the fact 
is not so. 

u As a general rule, the gift of the Spirit, as it was termed, 
was communicated by this laying on of hands : and it is prob- 
able that all thus received this gift of the Spirit. Of the graces 
and comforts which are the fruits of the Spirit, our blessed Lord 
prayed, that not only his twelve disciples might partake, but all 
who should believe on him through, their word. And there are 
facts which show that all Christians did participate in the gift 
which was signified by the laying on of hands. The Apostle in 
writing to the Corinthians refers to their having received the 
Spirit by his instrumentality ; to the G-alatians, to his minister- 
ing the Spirit unto them : and when he expresses his wish to 
visit the Christians at Rome, in order that he might impart unto 
them some spiritual gift, it is difficult to conceive why the gift 
might not have been communicated by letter or message, unless 
it were to be connected with some bodily act on his part. As it 
is evident therefore that in the judgment of charity all Chris- 
tians did receive this gift which was signified by the laying on 
of hands, it became more than probable that they all obtained it 
in the way which is recorded in reference to some individual 
instances : and that that which was done to the believers in 
Samaria and Ephesus, was also done to all that in every place 
called upon the name of Jesus Christ. Unless this be allowed, 
it will be impossible to find in the Sacred volume, any trace of 
such an imposition of hands, as could, with any propriety, be 
denominated a first principle and foundation of the Gospel of 
Christ."* 

No doubt, as a general rule, all received some spirit- 
ual gift ; but all did not receive a miraculous gift, nor 
the power of working miracles. For in the first place, 
a spiritual gift of any kind was not absolutely tied to 

* Tyns; on Confirmation. 



124 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

the Ordinance, so that it was necessarily conveyed by 
the Apostle's hands. It will be remembered that 
Simon, although fully admitted into the Church by 
an Apostle himself, remained in the gall of bitterness. 
And in the next place, spiritual gifts, when adminis- 
tered by Apostles, were of various kinds, some ordinary, 
some special, some extraordinary. The Apostle himself 
affirms it, for when writing to those to whom as he 
declares he had administered the Spirit, he asks, "Are 
all Apostles? Are all Prophets ? Are all Teachers? 
Are all workers of miracles ? Save all gifts of heal- 
ing ? Do all speak with tongues ? Do all interpret ?" 
No ! " The Spirit giveth to each man severally as He 
will." Gifts of grace were signified by the laying on 
of hands ; but miraculous powers were conferred only 
as He chose and only upon those whom the Spirit 
selected for peculiar ministries. 

We hold then that even when Apostles administered 
this Ordinance, miraculous gifts were separable, and in 
fact were often separated from the ordinary gifts of 
the Spirit. 

It is to be further observed that miracles accom- 
panied other Apostolic ministrations as frequently as 
they accompanied this laying on of hands. Prayer 
always preceded their wonderful works. Their preach- 
ing was constantly followed by marvellous instances 
of conversion. Miraculous gifts were generally be- 
stowed on those whom they ordained. Yet surely we 
will not argue that because miraculous gifts generally 
accompanied these ministrations, we are no longer to 
imitate Apostles in them. We do not cease to pray for 
the sick, although we cannot raise them to health, or 



A SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE. 125 

deliver them from the grave. We do not cease to 
preach, because the miracle of a soul's conversion is 
seldom, alas ! seldom the result. Our Bishops do not 
cease to ordain by laying on of hands with prayer for 
the Holy Ghost, because those whom they thus make 
Stewards of mysteries can no longer work miracles. 
And why should not the Apostles be imitated in this 
other administration ; although extraordinary gifts of 
the Spirit have ceased? " When sinners profess repent- 
ance from dead works and faith towards God, and when 
they have obeyed the doctrine of baptisms, why should 
not our Bishops confer that next among the principles 
of the doctrine of Christ, the laying on of hands with 
solemn prayer, that they may increase in the Holy Spirit 
more and more, and so become prepared for the two 
last principles, the resurrection of the dead and eternal 
judgment?" 

This conclusion is perfectly legitimate; the logical 
process is sound : and the result reached should be 
freely accepted. 

Confirmation has the weight of an Ordinance of our 
own Church ; beyond that, it has the authority of the 
example of the Apostles, and the custom of all suc- 
ceeding antiquity ; beyond that, it was the intention of 
the Apostles that it should be a perpetual custom ; and 
beyond that, the Apostle has declared that it stands 
among the first principles of Christ's religion, a part 
of that very foundation of external profession which 
every child of God should share in. The inference is 
clear and direct, that every baptized Christian who has 
not been confirmed should feel it to be his first duty to 
comply with that precept. 

li* 



126 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 



The Intention of Confirmation, 

Originally, and in Apostolic practice, it accomplished 
three distinct purposes, which may therefore be deemed 
its original intention. These were 

To administer a spiritual gift. 

To confirm young disciples in faith. 

To admit Christians into the body of the faithful, 
and to full privileges in the Church. 

There is no doubt that in the earliest ages, the Apos- 
tles frequently took advantage of this custom in order 
to convey spiritual gifts ; generally ordinary gifts, some- 
times extraordinary. This power which belonged to 
them as inspired men has not been perpetuated. Now, 
instead, we employ the term, a means of grace. Such 
it is. As prayer, or common worship, or the Ordinances 
of religion, so this Rite properly employed becomes a 
means of grace. A special means, especially effectual, 
because it combines those others. Prayer is made, in 
solemn manner, by all the congregation and by God's 
Ministers, whilst the Chief Minister indicates the in- 
dividual to be prayed for by laying his hand on that 
person's head. Thus uniting in prayer, for an out- 
pouring of the Holy Ghost, under the promises of the 
Gospel, the Church cannot but regard this Ordinance 
as a means of grace. 

It confirms young disciples in their faith. There has 
scarcely been any change in this intention of the Rite 
since the earliest times. So far as that faith is intel- 
lectual, that is, an understanding of truth, the course 
of study through which every faithful Pastor carries 



INTENTION. 127 

his Candidates, establishes them in a knowledge of the 
Gospel. Just as in the olden time, Evangelists or the 
stated Ministers were roused to special activity by ex- 
pecting a visit from the Apostles, or their Episcopal 
assistants, such as Timothy or Titus ; so a modern visi- 
tation leads to more than ordinary activity in instruct- 
ing the young of our Parishes. And as the Catechism 
is the basis of such instruction, Candidates for Confir- 
mation become familiar, not only with truth generally, 
but with doctrine and practice, as taught and illustrated 
in our own particular Church. Further, and as its most 
important end, Candidates are confirmed in their spirit- 
ual faith; in experimental and practical religion. Under 
Pastoral guidance their religious views and religious 
characters are tested. And wherever confirmation is 
properly prepared for, the Candidates are necessarily 
established in their personal Christianity. 

The third intention has been slightly modified since 
Apostolic days. Then it was enough to say, that the 
confirmed were thereby admitted into all the privileges 
of the Church. There was then but one Body, as there 
was but one Faith, and one Baptism. But since the 
Reformation this Ordinance has received a new inten- 
tion. At that era, a large part of Christendom, called 
the Romish Church, began to separate itself from the 
Church of Christ, and other portions of Christ's Church 
allowed themselves to be divided into sections more or 
less irregular. Our Church, reformed and protesting 
against all error, standing in the old paths, changing 
nothing, yet discovered, that under the circumstances 
which surrounded her, this Apostolic Ordinance had as- 
sumed a new aspect. On the one side it was perverted 



128 PREPARATION FOR COXFIRMATION. 

to superstition ; on the other it was thrown away. Con- 
sequently, among us, besides being, as in Apostolic 
days, the door of admission to general privileges in 
Christ's Church, it admits to a particular union and 
communion with this Church, which is both Protestant 
and Episcopal. 

Such is the threefold intention of this holy rite ; an 
intention perfectly in keeping with its Apostolic char- 
acter; and entirely in harmony with its Scriptural 
description as a first principle of the Gospel of Christ. 

Confirmation is in no sense a Sacrament. A clear 
understanding of this distinction is of grave impor- 
tance, because some incline towards that view of the 
Ordinance. The faulty ideas that its reception is 
" generally necessary to salvation ;" that its administra- 
tion is invariably accompanied by a gift of divine 
grace ; that the imposition of the Bishop's hands is a 
" sign and pledge" of grace bestowed ; or that the 
Ordinance supplies what are called defects of irregular 
baptism, so that one who has been baptized by a non- 
Episcopal minister or by a lay person, being subse- 
quently confirmed, shall occupy the same position, and 
be deemed to have received the same grace, as is sup- 
posed to be communicated in baptism regularly minis- 
tered; all these notions are based upon the notion of 
its sacramental character : and are erroneous. 

The admirable definition of " this word Sacrament," 
familiar to us in the Catechism, will sufficiently defend 
our view. A Sacrament " is an outward and visible 
sign of an inward and spiritual grace, given unto us ; 
ordained by Christ himself as a means whereby we 
receive the same and a pledge to assure us thereof." 



INTENTION. 129 

Every portion of this definition is essential ; and there- 
fore in a Sacrament all its terms must be fulfilled. It 
was carefully drawn up with the intent of excluding 

the five administrations which the Romish Church had 
united with the two Sacraments as of equal value ; 
and among these was Confirmation. 

The Romish Church maintaining the propriety of a 
portion of this definition, continued to administer this 
Ordinance with the use of certain significant outward 
acts which they declared to be signs of grace. Our 
Reformers in the revision of the Book of Common 
Prayer in 1551 , commonly called the second Book of 
King Edward, directed all other outward acts to be 
disused except the imposition of the Bishop's hands ; 
all others being deemed to want sufficient Scriptural 
authority. But even this external act was not ordained 
by Christ himself, nor ordered by Him to be a means of 
grace and a pledge of its reception : nor are there any 
means or pledges of grace in the administration except 
as prayer is a means, and the general promises which 
accompany the administration are a pledge, of grace. 
Since therefore these five signs are wanting in Con- 
firmation, the Ordinance has no Sacramental character. 

The intention of Confirmation is therefore, 

To lead to an increase of the influences of the Holy 
Spirit, in answer to Prayer, and as the result of the 
spiritual preparation made for receiving the Ordinance. 
It is a means of grace. i 

To confirm young disciples in their faith : in specu- 
lative faith by instruction; in practical faith by conver- 
sation with a Pastor, by the public act of profession, 
and by the entrance on a life of religious activity. 
r* 



130 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

To admit into all the privileges of the Church 
Catholic, and of our own Church in particular, as it is 
both Episcopal and Protestant. 

It is in no sense a Sacrament : not possessing the 
peculiar and essential marks of a Sacrament given in 
the Catechism ; and having been expressly excluded 
from the region of the Sacraments by our Reformers. 

Note. — Eeaders are referred to the Kev. Dr. Tyng's admira- 
ble argument on the Apostolicity and Perpetuity of this Ordi- 
nance, contained in his Treatise on Confirmation. I am greatly 
indebted to it. 



PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE CANDIDATES, QUALIFICATIONS, AND BENEFITS. 
INSTRUCTION IN DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH. 

The Candidates for Confirmation, 

Who ought to become Candidates for Confirmation ? 

Generally; every baptized believer who has attained 
to years of discretion, and who has not already been 
confirmed within our Church, or within a Church in 
union with our Protestant Episcopal Church. 

Particularly ; I suggest answers to queries presented 
by the above definition. 

Suppose the person applying was baptized by a Min- 
ister not in Episcopal orders ? The distinction between 
validity and regularity of administering Sacraments 
has been so long recognized by our Church, as to have 
attained the weight of law. It decides this case. 
Baptism may be valid, that is, recognized and ratified 
and blessed of Christ, without being regular, or ad- 
ministered in all respects according to Christ's ordi- 
nance. Even lay baptism is admitted to be valid by 
strict constructionists of Episcopal authority ; how 
much more if baptism was Ministerial although 
not regular ? 

131 



132 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

A question of greater difficulty arises when the ap- 
plicant has received only Unitarian Baptism. The 
Baptism was administered by one who is supposed to 
deny the divinity of Christ. It is indeed a question 
of validity even more than of irregularity. It becomes 
a question of opinion, as to how much error invalidates 
a Ministry; and a. question of fact in each particular 
case, as to how much error is held by the Minister who 
officiated. For it is well known that Unitarians hold 
every possible shade of opinion concerning the divinity 
of our Saviour. Such a question then becomes too 
difficult for decision. Besides, the administering of 
baptism is an act of obedience to the authority of 
Christ. And if it be performed in precise terms 
according to Christ's ordinance, it is a significant 
declaration of submission to Christ. To go further, 
and require that a certain definite purpose on the part 
of the Minister shall be declared, when he administers 
this Sacrament, would be to add to Christ's ordinance : 
which we have no right to do. No doubt the idea of 
Christian baptism implies an acknowledgment of faith 
in Christ, and of a Covenant based upon it. But the 
words of Christ's appointment themselves involve and 
include this idea. They involve an acknowledgment 
of Christ's equal Divinity with the Father, and the 
Holy Ghost. If any other terms had been requisite, 
Christ would have appointed them. If therefore these 
words are used in Baptism, Christ's ordinance is satis- 
fied. Besides, the Minister in these cases always pro- 
fesses to admit the baptized into the fellowship of the 
Christian Church and into the faith of Christ. 

We cannot go behind his act, to examine his in ten- 



WHO OUGHT TO BE CANDIDATES. 133 

tion. And we need not go behind his act to question 
his motive; for the XX VI. Article of religion declares 
that " the an worthiness of Ministers hinders not the 
effect of the Sacrament." Unworthiness arising from 
pernicious doctrine may certainly be included under 
this term. Nor can it hinder Christ's promise, if the 
Minister has baptized the person professedly in obedience 
to Christ's commandment, as a profession of faith in 
Christ, and with the distinct Christian formula ap- 
pointed by Christ. If the conditions above named 
have been fulfilled, Unitarian baptism may be allowed. 

When this question first arose as a question of Pastoral 
duty, I consulted those in the Church whose opinions 
seemed most weighty, and found no difference in 
practice; among these were Bishop Elliott of South 
Carolina, and Bishop Eastburn of Massachusetts. If 
however any doubt should remain upon the minds 
either of the Pastor or of the Candidate, which cannot 
be pacified, or any doubt whether the facts of the case 
bring it clearly within the conditions named, or any 
doubt arising from questions as to lay baptism, let the 
person be baptized with the provisional formula. 

Many hold that confirmation will compensate for 
defects in Baptism: and those who take this view, 
consequently do not think it necessary to solve the 
question now proposed. Bit there is no declaration 
by our Saviour which thus puts Confirmation on a par 
with or superior to Baptism : nor is there any shadow 
of such a doctrine set forth by our Church. Conse- 
quently, invalidity of Baptism is fatal to all outward 
fellowship with the Saviour. Xeither Confirmation, 
nor Communion, nor Ordination, can compensate for 

12 



134 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

the want of it. An unbaptized person is not within 
Christ's visible Church. 

But supposing such a person to be baptized, after 
having been confirmed. Should he be reconfirmed? 
I answer, No. 

The ground of this opinion is, first, that Baptism is 
a Sacrament, which the other is not. Second, that the 
Sacrament of admission into the Church is necessary 
where it may be had. Third, that nothing of human 
device can take the place of that Sacrament, nor supply 
defects in its administration. But Confirmation is not 
a Sacrament; it is only an Ecclesiastical ordinance. 
Any defect in it arising from the absence of the divine 
Sacrament will be immediately supplied by its presence. 
Therefore a person would not be presented for recon- 
firmation, who had been baptized after being confirmed. 

Such a case occurred in my experience. One of my 
Communicants after having been several years a Com- 
municant, applied to a neighboring Rector for baptism. 
He had been baptized by a Presbyterian Clergyman. 
The Rector without consulting me referred him to the 
Bishop. And the Bishop, without my knowledge, re- 
baptized him, reconfirmed him, and readmitted him to 
the Communion. The whole series of acts being un- 
necessary and a violation of law. 

The ground taken for this act of intrusion was, that 
a Bishop is a universal Diocesan Pastor, and therefore 
to be appealed to as such : a ground of course unten- 
able, and to be resisted. The occurrence of one such 
case renders possible the occurrence of others. It is 
well to be forearmed therefore with this decision ; that 
while a valid Baptism is a sine qua non, and therefore 



WHO OUGHT TO BE CANDIDATES. 135 

invalidity of baptism must at all hazards be supplied 
by valid baptism, yet that a valid baptism ought not 
to be repeated : a regular confirmation need not be 
repeated even when the Candidate was actually unbap- 
tized at the time of receiving that Ordinance, because 
his subsequent reception of the Sacrament will supply 
all that had been deficient in the Ordinance. 

Suppose the Candidate has already been confirmed ? 

Such confirmation will have taken place either, by a 
minister who is not a bishop, as in the Lutheran 
Church ; by a Bishop in a Protestant Church, not in 
communion with ours, as in the Swedish ; or by a 
Bishop who is heretical, as in the Romish Church. 

The answer is, that the Rite is apostolic, and must 
be administered according to apostolic usage. Its in- 
tention is to bring a believer not only into communion 
with the Church Catholic, but into union with our 
own particular Church, which is both Episcopal and 
Protestant. On one or other of the prongs of the 
antlers of this definition, the doubts in question will 
be caught. 

For, in the Lutheran Church, which practises confir- 
mation, or the Calvinistic Church, which would practise 
confirmation if it followed the advice of its founder, 
ministers are not bishops ; and in the Methodist Church, 
which may yet be led to practise confirmation under 
the pressure of advancing public opinion, recurring to 
John AYesley's advice, its nominal bishops are only 
Presbyters ; consequently these ministers can only bring 
a Candidate into union with Presbyteries, that is, non- 
Episcopal Churches. A minister w T ho is not a bishop 
cannot introduce a Candidate into union with an Epis- 



136 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

copal Church. Such a confirmation is no confirmation 
as we understand it. 

In the next case ; a Bishop in a Church not in com- 
munion with ours, cannot introduce a member of his 
Church into communion with ours. 

But, on the other hand, the Church of England and 
the Churches in Ireland and Scotland are in communion 
with ours. The Moravian Church is generally con- 
sidered in communion with ours, although no definite 
decision has ever been given by General Convention. 
The Church of Sweden has been considered in union 
by one Bishop ; the late Bishop of the Diocese of Illi- 
nois. No act has ratified it, nor has general opinion as 
yet sanctioned it. 

In the next case : a Bishop in a Church which is 
heretical or schismatical cannot introduce a member 
into union with our Church, which is Protestant and 
orthodox. 

The question would turn upon the condition of the 
Greek, the Oriental, and the Romish Churches. But 
the Greek Church, and Oriental Churches, if not fatally 
heretical have not been acknowledged as in union with 
ours. The Romish Church, if not schismatical, is cer- 
tainly heretical, by positive declaration of our Church: 
and consequently cannot admit a member into union 
with our Protestant communion. Besides, confirmation 
in the Romish Church being not a laying on of hands 
is not the apostolic Rite. 

Suppose the Candidate was confirmed without proper 
spiritual qualifications ? This case has been referred to 
me more than once, both whilst I was a Pastor, and since 
I have been a Bishop. But it admits of easy solution : 



WHO OUGHT TO BE CANDIDATES. 137 

although it may not be in our power so easily to pacify 
a conscience which may be disturbed by it. For if the 
person approaches the ordinance without a due sense of 
the solemnity or reality of his act, vowing without the 
intention of obedience to God, professing faith in Christ 
without possessing any living faith, an act of deliberate 
or of ignorant hypocrisy, we can readily imagine that 
when the conscience shall become truly awakened, it 
will be weighed down with a sense of sin committed in 
this act. And the first impulse will be to repair the 
fault by repeating the Ordinance in a proper spirit. 

. But all that was external of the act was rightly per- 
formed. The vow was registered on earth and in 
heaven. That which was lacking lay in the internal 
act ; and this is now supplied before God and accepted 
by Him. There can therefore be no necessity for repeat- 
ing the external act. And no propriety ; for it could 
accomplish for the Candidate nothing, nor admit him 
to any rights which he does not already possess. 

Confirmation being a ratification of baptismal en- 
gagements another class of questions is to be met. 

Suppose the person has been baptized as an infant in 
a church which does not require formal engagements 
on the part of the child; as in some Protestant 
Churches which do not admit the office of sponsors ? 

Or supposing the person was baptized in our own 
Church in private, as an infant, sick, and in danger of 
death : in which case no engagements are entered into 
by sponsors ? The duty of bringing the child, if it 
lives, into the Church, and assuming the sponsorial 
obligations openly, although solemnly enjoined, is often 
forgotten. And the child who has been privately bap- 

12* 



138 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

tized often grows up, without having entered into any 
formal and verbal vow. 

Or suppose, what might be as pertinently urged, that 
the sponsors entered into engagements without any in- 
tention of keeping them, or any design that the child 
should be considered as bound by his vow ? Certainly 
promises made with the lips only are as wqrthless, as if 
they were not made at all. 

The reply to all these suppositions is the same, and 
simple. In Baptism a child enters into Covenant with 
Christ. It is not the sponsors' act, but the child's act. 
It is a real agreement between the child and Christ, 
through the sponsors, or if there be no sponsors. * The 
terms are sometimes expressed, and sometimes not ex- 
pressed. But the agreement is always the same, and 
its terms are implied when not expressed. And this 
binding vow made in childhood is in all cases to be 
ratified in adult years. 

Still another class of difficulties arises, in the minds 
of those persons who have already made a profession 
of religion by baptism in adult years, or by com- 
munion; baptized as adults in our Church, or baptized 
and communing in other Churches. 

Suppose the person has already assumed voavs pub- 
licly, or as it is termed made a profession of religion, 
and thereby has done that for which confirmation is 
appointed? The reply is, as in former cases, that our 
Church opens only one door to its Communion, and 
know r s only one method of acknowledging attachment 
to its fellowship. 

The argument to be used with one who has been 
baptized in adult years, would be formed, from the 



WHO OUGHT TO BE CANDIDATES. 139 

Apostolic character of the Ordinance, the example of 
the early Church, and the importance of yielding obe- 
dience to the laws of our own body. 

But the most influential consideration with such 
persons will generally be, the propriety of reaffirming 
confidence in Christ and their delight in his service ; 
and the effect of their example upon younger Chris- 
tians. 

With all those whom we baptize as adults, care 
should be taken to forestall the difficulty, by explaining 
the Church's expectation as to Confirmation, previously 
to the administration of the Sacrament. They should 
understand that when they receive Baptism they agree 
to come to Confirmation at the earliest opportunity. 

The argument to be used with those w T ho are already 
Communicants will be of a similar character. Those 
who come to us from other Churches may well and 
courteously consider, that if indeed the Ordinance of 
Confirmation be onerous, it is not to be expected that 
strangers, however welcome, should be placed on a 
footing less onerous than that of the Church's own 
children : that as Confirmation is the rule for all our 
own, although educated among us, and although 
habituated to our modes of thinking, and of whose 
fidelity we have had experience, certainly it is a right 
rule for those who have lived without a knowledge of 
our ways and beyond the oversight of our Ministry. 

It will be remembered too, with respect to commu- 
nicants coming to our Church from other Bodies, that 
comity and good feeling entitle them to the ordinary 
privileges of general communion and fellowship on 
the letters they bring from their former Pastors ; but 



140 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

these letters do not take the place of our Pastoral 
examination before admitting them to Confirmation : 
although it will generally be proper, and expedient, to 
accept such letters as sufficient testimony without ex- 
amination. But if a Pastor feels that an examination 
or further instruction is necessary or expedient, prior 
to Confirmation, he has a valuable opportunity to inform 
these new members as to the peculiarities of our own 
Church, to discover any errors of doctrinal or practical 
views, and to furnish the corrective. 

Unconfirmed Communicants will often be heads of 
families ; and their example of neglecting the Ordi- 
nances of .the Church will be employed by their chil- 
dren and other young people of our flock, as an 
argument to defend their own neglect, and sometimes 
their own indifference to religion. This fact puts a 
powerful plea in our possession. 

This subject has been presented with minuteness, 
because many such difficulties will arise in every one's 
early ministry; and a solution of these doubts may be 
often aided by the experience of elders in the Ministry. 

The Qualifications of Candidates. 

We are considering only the intellectual qualifica- 
tions. We are hereafter to consider the spiritual 
qualifications in detail. But whilst nothing need to 
be added on these points at this point in the discussion, 
it will be well to show why this topic should be placed 
fifth, instead of first, in a course of preparing our 
Candidates, although it is confessedly first in impor- 
tance; and why the Spiritual should be considered 



QUALIFICATIONS OF CANDIDATES. 141 

subsequently to the Intellectual qualifications, although 
they are of superior moment. 

Our first object is to invite, not to repel any. We 
desire not to discourage any one from a careful con- 
sideration of duty, but to draw if possible all the con- 
gregation, especially all the careless and irreligious, 
toward a conscientious regard to this obligation. One 
may well hope that if successful in this, he may be the 
means, under divine grace, of awakening their con- 
sciences. Consequently, let the subject be first presented 
in its general aspects. Present it as now suggested in 
its history, authority and perpetuity, and intention, 
with all the interest that can be thrown around it; 
so that even the hitherto careless may begin to think 
about it. Then let them be addressed on the subject 
of Candidateship, showing that all who have been 
baptized and have not been confirmed are considered 
by the Church as being bound to share in this Ordi- 
nance. 

That opportunity should be taken to press directly 
upon irreligious baptized persons the unwisdom and 
ingratitude and sin of neglecting to pay the vow which 
they have vowed. They may be led to wish that they 
might be Candidates, and come to listen, when you 
begin to treat the topic of qualifications. And when 
that subject is treated, let the same merciful design be 
kept in view; first show those qualifications which 
they can more easily, or which they will fancy they 
can more easily, possess. Show what knowledge is to 
be gained, and how it is to be acquired. Most of the 
intelligent members of a flock will see that after listen- 
ing to lectures on Confirmation they have received the 



142 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

most of one part of it, the requisite knowledge, and 
will hope that by attending our lectures on the Cate- 
chism they will obtain the other part of it. Then 
there will stand between them and the blessings of the 
Ordinance the one only question, "Am I spiritually 
prepared ?" It is the vital question indeed : but now 
it will be proposed at a time when they will be pre- 
pared to listen with interest and without prejudice. 
Proposed at first, it would have repelled them from 
hearing our instructions. They would infer that they 
had no part, and were not desired to be present with 
our class. Proposed at this point, it will strike them, 
as indeed is true, that we long for their souls, that we 
present the subject of spiritual qualification not as a 
barrier but as a guide ; and they will probably be im- 
pressed by the solemn fact that nothing stands between 
them and the coveted privileges of a Christian, except 
the want of confidence in Jesus and loving devotion 
to Him. A fatal want. But the very fact strongly 
pressed, under such circumstances will be likely to 
arouse the conscience. Especially when we are per- 
mitted to show that the love of Jesus Christ has 
already bridged this chasm, and that the Holy Ghost 
is lovingly anxious to lead them in His mercies to the 
enjoyment of the peace which flows from the act of 
passing that chasm by faith in the Saviour. 

Besides, they will have broken the ice on the cold 
border of that chasm, by showing an interest in some- 
thing religious. It will seem to them to have been one 
step towards religion. One barrier between their hearts 
and ours will be broken down. They will have invited 
Christian offices : and we will be wanting both in tact 



QUALIFICATIONS OF CANDIDATES. 143 

and love, if we do not take advantage of the opening, 
and secure their souls for Christ. 

On one other point, the ground for urging intellectual 
qualifications is, first, the Church rule ; and secondly, 
the nature of the Ordinance. 

The Church rule, — " None shall be confirmed but 
such as can say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the 
ten Commandments, and can also answer to such other 
questions as in the short Catechism are contained." 

This is the lowest qualification. It is intended to 
exclude neither the feeblest intellect, nor the least 
amount of knowledge. But it implies that each Can- 
didate shall have as clear and full an apprehension of 
these truths as his mental condition or opportunities 
will allow. Consequently he is expected to study the 
Catechism, and of course to understand it, as far as his 
ability will permit. It has already been shown that 
to understand it thoroughly is to have at command a 
perfect system of Theology. 

The nature of the Ordinance implies the same thing. 
For its intention, as has been shown, is to confirm dis- 
ciples in their faith. To be established in it, they must 
understand it. To prevent their being drawn aside by 
specious errors, or false teaching, they should be armed 
against these errors and falsehoods by possessing the 
truth. If they are to be stable Christians, they must 
be established in doctrine. 

A caution is necessary. Whilst endeavoring to in- 
struct Candidates thoroughly, and give them every 
reasonable opportunity for knowledge on these subjects, 
we must be careful to declare that intellectual prepara- 
tion is not the main thing ; that Christ accepts only the 



144 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

preparation of the heart : and that He is ready to wel- 
come to this Ordinance every true believer however 
deficient in mere intellectual knowledge. 

The Benefits of Confirmation. 

These are direct, and indirect. 

Direct benefits; or what is sometimes called the grace 
of Confirmation : benefits which immediately result 
from its administration. We judge of these from the 
character of the Candidates, the character of the act, 
and the promises of God. The Candidates for Con- 
firmation profess to be, and we are to suppose them in 
every sense to be, members of Christ's kingdom ; hav- 
ing received both the washing of regeneration, and the 
renewing of the Holy Ghost. Now the Holy Ghost 
has selected certain visible Ordinances as the medium 
through which He dispenses spiritual favors: among 
these Confirmation is included. For the Ordinance 
was thus employed by Himself in the early ages of the 
Church. All tradition and ecclesiastical history de- 
clare that as a fact it continued to be a means of grace. 
The Protestant framers of our Prayer Book, from their 
own experience declare Confirmation to be a means of 
grace. And the Argument for the Authority and Per- 
petuity of the Ordinance requires us to believe that it 
must be so ; for if an external Ordinance is one of the 
first principles of the religion of Christ, it cannot be 
less than a means of grace. 

We add the consideration that prayer, which is al- 
ways a means of grace, is the chief appointment of this 
Ordinance ; and prayer, while it has the promise of 
every blessing, is here used under such circumstances 



BENEFITS OF CONFIRMATION. 145 

as are most likely to render it effectual. Believers in 
Christ supplicate for the bestowal of grace. The Can- 
didates, the Christian congregation, and the ministers 
of Jesus Christ, all the believers before his throne, 
pray ; and the single burden of their supplications is 
that the Ordinance may become a means of grace. 
Every circumstance tends to insure and increase the 
fervor of their prayer. The transaction which interests 
heaven well bespeaks the solemn attention of earth. 
Persons who have vowed unto the Lord stand before 
the duly commissioned Minister of Jesus Christ to 
register their oath of allegiance. Here, in the presence 
of those who witnessed for them in baptism ; in the 
sight of the whole body of the Church, with whom 
they are more particularly united ; under the eye of 
angels and guardian spirits, who erewhile sang glad 
songs as they spread tidings of their repentance through 
the Courts of the upper Sanctuary ; and before Him, 
the adorable Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in 
whose blessed Xame they were sealed, and unto whom 
that vow was made which now they renew and ratify ; 
they solemnly renounce again everything opposed to the 
Supreme authority of Almighty God ; they solemnly 
separate themselves again from the world : they sol- 
emnly promise once more and forever to continue 
Christ's faithful soldiers and servants unto their life's 
end. 

Having heard this deliberate determination, the whole 
body of the faithful, led by the Bishop, supplicate God„ 
that the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit may descend upon 
these his servants. " Strengthen them !" they cry ; 
u strengthen them, we beseech Thee, O Lord ! with the 

G 13 



146 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

Holy Ghost the Comforter; and daily increase in them 
thy manifold gifts of grace ; the spirit of wisdom and 
understanding, the spirit of counsel and ghostly strength, 
the spirit of knowledge and true godliness ; and fill 
them, O Lord, with the spirit of thy holy fear now 
and forever." The Bishop then proceeds to lay his 
hands upon their heads, by this gesture expressing his 
fervent desires for each individual, and pointing out 
one by one the person for whom specific prayer is to 
be made. And then inviting all to unite in silent 
prayer with him, he approaches the mercy seat, " De- 
fend, O Lord, this thy servant with thy heavenly 
grace, that he may continue thine forever, and daily 
increase in thy Holy Spirit more and more, until he 
come unto thy everlasting kingdom." Nor does the 
siege of the throne cease even here. The true Israel 
of God remembering the wrestling of pious Jacob, and 
the Saviour's commendation of the importunate widow, 
once more unites to pray for these new disciples of the 
Lord. "Let Thy Fatherly hand, w T e beseech Thee, 
ever be over them ; let Thy Holy Spirit ever be with 
them ; and so lead them in the knowledge and obe- 
dience of Thy word, that in the end they may obtain 
everlasting life, through our Lord Jesus Christ." We 
cannot question the efficacy of such prayers. Here not 
two only, but a whole Church agreeing in one petition, 
with holy boldness present it to the God of all grace 
through the merits of the Saviour, looking for and 
expecting a favorable answer. Unless we believe that 
grace is received accordingly, the service is a mockery 
.of pious hopes and expectations. 

As to the nature of the grace to be thus received, a 



BENEFITS OF CONFIRMATION. 147 

careful review of the service will convince us, that it 
is not any sudden or surprising communication of 
spiritual strength. An error sometimes exists on this 
subject, which afterwards leads to discouragement. The 
Candidates are looking to receive something, they know 
not exactly what, which invisibly but sensibly shall 
perfect their virtues, establish their holy habits, and 
induce a constant satisfactory feeling that they are 
children of God. 

But this is not to be anticipated, for this is not what 
we pray for. We pray for a gradual growth in spiritual 
graces, a constant steady increase in spiritual strength, 
a power of prevailing in hours of trial and danger, a 
certain ability of overcoming at the last, and of per- 
severing until the end, until salvation is attained. 
These graces are not for that instant, but for the future. 
A sufficiency for each emergency as it occurs is all that 
is requisite to any Christian. Any superabundant grace 
might become a snare, and dangerous because it would 
encourage presumption. 

Bishop Jeremy Taylor well illustrates this truth, 
" That which we call the miraculous part is the less 
power. But to cast out the devil of lust, to throw 
down the pride of Lucifer, to tread on the Great 
Dragon, and to triumph over our spiritual enemies ; 
to cure a diseased soul, to be unharmed by the poison 
of temptation, of evil example and evil company: these 
are the true signs which follow them who believe ; this 
is to live in the spirit, and walk in the spirit; this is 
more than to receive the spirit for a power of working 
miracles in the natural world ; for this is from a super- 
natural principle, to receive supernatural aids, to a 



148 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

supernatural end wrought within the diviner spirit of 
man." 

The indirect benefits of Confirmation are : 

First. The natural consequence of decision. So long 
as one hesitates, he presents a fair mark for the assaults 
of fleshly and spiritual foes. The decided Christian is 
fortunately considered by the world as in a hopeless 
condition concerning its temptations, and is generally 
left to pursue his way unmolested. 

Second. The support afforded hy the continual recol- 
lection of the necessity for maintaining a consistent 
Christian character. Ezra would not ask the king for 
a guard, when he was about to return to Jerusalem, 
simply because he had professed to believe that God 
favored them who helped Israel, and poured out his 
wrath upon all who molested them. jSTehemiah, pro- 
fessing to be laboring for God, replied to those who 
would have tempted him to forsake his work, " Shall 
such a man as I flee ?" And Joseph, " How shall I," 
who worship such an holy God, " how shall I do this 
great wickedness and sin against God?" A professing 
Christian finds his profession a very great barrier 
against sin. Previously, when sinners enticed him, he 
could oppose them only with the secret reluctance of 
his heart. Now the character he wears is a defensive 
armor. His steadfast reply to sinners and to sin is the 
pithy language, with which the ancient martyr faced 
all solicitations to apostatize, " I am a Christian." 

Third. The access thus given to the sympathy and 
experience of elder Christians. Many persons are hin- 
dered for a long while, some indeed finally hindered, 
because they conceal their feelings. If they could 



BENEFITS OF CONFIRMATION. 149 

reveal their difficulties to any sympathizing heart they 
would be immediately relieved and comforted. But 
when they are confirmed they enter the body of the 
faithful, and the heart of every true Christian is open 
to them. In future difficulties, temptations, and trials, 
they have a storehouse of assistance, in the experience 
of those who have passed this way before them, and to 
whom nothing should give greater delight than to 
succor the distressed, by their own experience. 

If the theory of the Gospel is realized among us, if 
we are Brethren of the household of faith, and fellow 
travellers towards the Celestial City, our Candidates 
have a right to feel that the sympathy and experience 
of elder pilgrims, with all the benefits of it, are theirs, 
so soon as they shall join the Christian company. It 
will be to compare great things by small : yet, if mem- 
bership in a Masonic or an Odd Fellows' Lodge, or 
even in a Co-operative Society, gives one substantial 
benefits, we cannot place a -membership of Christ's 
Church on a lower plane. Sympathy and fellowship 
w 7 ith the Church do not mean that all benefits are to be 
received directly from Christ, or waited for until we 
reach His presence, but that we may expect them from 
the love and fellowship of those who are Christ's, and 
expect to enjoy them whilst we are still on earth. 

A devout participation in this Ordinance secures the 
powerful assistance of Almighty God. The Candidate 
humbly claims the fulfilment of the Divine Covenant 
of Baptism. So far as in him lies the conditions have 
been fulfilled ; and now 7 he waits with assurance to re- 
ceive the promise of God. The Lord was pleased 
graciously to lay Himself under a conditional obliga- 

13* 



150 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

tion. The Candidate, through grace, has accomplished 
the condition. The whole power of God to succor and 
support is, therefore, from henceforth, his. 

The second topic of Intellectual preparation should 
be, instruction in 

The Doctrines of the Church. 

Confirmation implies maturity of faith, and steadfast- 
ness of religious opinions. And this not in general 
only ; but in those particular beliefs which distinguish 
Episcopal Churches from others. 

It is requisite then that the Confirmation class should 
understand the doctrines of the Bible, as our Church 
holds and teaches them. This requires specific and 
particular instruction. 

Many also will come to us from other Christian 
Churches, who will be already instructed, more or less. 

In the first case they study the differences between 
their previous and present Church. In the second case 
they study the whole subject of religion as do our own 
young Candidates. 

Many, it is to be hoped, will come directly to the 
Church out of the world. Their whole religious views 
are to be formed. 

The largest number will come by that regular pro- 
gress intended by our Church system, through Home 
training, Sunday and Bible Class, and the Pastor's class 
in the Catechism; trained up in the nurture of the 
Lord, in the doctrines of Baptism and of the Church. 
Instruction in their case is to be continued and per- 
fected. 



DOCTRINE ILLUSTRATED. 151 

In order to give this combined and perfected in- 
struction, no method is so simple, easy, direct, or effec- 
tual, as to deliver carefully constructed Lectures on the 
Catechism ; enlarging the instruction already given to 
children, and putting it in a shape better suited for a 
general congregation, or at least for the more mature 
minds of Candidates for Confirmation. 

Every point of such instruction should be proved, 
when necessary, by Scripture ; always, should be de- 
clared to be based upon Scripture ; Scripture should be 
presented as the sole authority. Every point should be 
illustrated by the standards of our Church, by Creeds, 
Articles, Liturgy, and Homilies. 

As a guide in such lectures, let Archbishop Seeker's 
Lectures on the Catechism be studied. Bishop White 
has also shown his estimate of the value of this method 
of instruction, by preparing a course on the Catechism. 
Rev. Dr. Henshaw, before he was made Bishop of 
Rhode Island, prepared a full and admirable series of 
Lectures on the Catechism. 

My habit has been to lecture on the Catechism when- 
ever preparing a class for Confirmation ; both formally 
in church, and informally in the lecture-room : always 
taking the ground-work as already laid out, dividing 
the teachings of the Catechism into five parts. This 
course and method of instruction was recommended by 
Bishop Jeremy Taylor, and was adopted by Bishops 
Seeker, White, and Henshaw. 

Bishop Henshaw in his Preface says, " Acting under 
the belief, now generally received among us, that the 
Church Catechism is the best guide to Protestant Epis- 
copalians in the religious education of their children, 



152 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

the Author prepared the following exposition of it for 
the benefit of his people." 

Special attention should be paid to illustrating the 
Catechism by our Articles ; not only because they are 
authoritative and carefully worded statements of our 
doctrines, but because they are so frequently overlooked. 
Our people seldom know what the Articles do teach. 
The whole subject of Doctrines, Liturgy, Worship, 
Rites, Usages and Laws should be taught. The 
Church's teaching is to be defined and enforced by its 
uniform practice, and at the same time occasional prac- 
tice is to be corrected by immemorial doctrine. 

As a specimen of the manner of using the standards 
to illustrate the Catechism, I give the following hints: 

On Doctrines, — The Rule of Christian faith, given in 
the Catechism, is proved by Scripture, and is stated 
clearly in Article VI. 

The Doctrine of the Trinity is illustrated in the 
Litany, and in the Gloria Patria, the Gloria in Excelsis, 
the Te Deum, and the Benedictions. 

The Doctrine of Repentance is illustrated by Homily 
XIX. 

The Doctrine of the Sacraments is given in Articles 
XXV.-XXXI. ; against superstitious use; against the 
idea that the spiritual value of a Sacrament inheres in 
the elements. This is further illustrated by the Rubrics 
after the Communion. No private Sacraments are 
allowed; no receiving alone is tolerated. The Lord's 
Supper is held to be efficacious although one may not 
be able to receive the elements ; this truth is illustrated 
by the last Rubric in the Liturgy of the Holy Com- 
munion. 



LITURGY AND CUSTOMS. 153 

The Doctrine of the Lord's Day is given in Canon 
XX. Title I. of the Digest. Also in a Resolution 
passed at the Diocesan Convention of Ohio in 1836. 

On Practice, — Reverence to God, as inculcated in the 
Catechism, and the worship of God, are illustrated by 
our customs; for example, kneeling when one enters 
God's house, and a proper regard for the Chancel, 
where God's word is preached, where prayer is made, 
and the Sacraments are administered. So also by pos- 
tures in worship. 

Renunciation of worldly amusements, vain dress, and 
show, are illustrated by Homily VI. ; and by Resolu- 
tions of the Convention of Ohio, 1821-25, and those 
of Virginia. 

Family Prayer is enforced by the provisions of a 
form for it in the Prayer Book : and by a Resolution 
of the Convention of Ohio, 1834. 



o* 



PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 



CHAPTER IX. 

QUALIFICATIONS AND TESTS. 

Spiritual Instruction for Confirmation. 

According to a Pastor's view of the spiritual quali- 
fications demanded for Confirmation will be the spiritual 
character of the congregation which gathers around his 
ministry and forms his church. 

Various views of Qualifications are held, running 
between extremes. 

The lowest view is that Confirmation is merely a 
decent formality, which all children pass through be- 
fore they come of age and take their places in society. 
It is sometimes considered a prerequisite for young 
ladies and gentlemen before " coming out" into com- 
pany ! * 

The next view, scarcely higher, is, that it transfers 
from Sponsors' shoulders a burden, which the baptized 
person himself is now to carry. Observe; it is not 
considered as discharging a religious vow : but assuming 
of a vow, which it is inconvenient for the Sponsor 
longer to bear. It is supposed that the Candidate will 

* This opinion was expressed to me by a parent who brought 
a child to receive the Ordinance. 
15 



VARIOUS VIEWS OF QUALIFICATIONS. 155 

discharge the vow if ever he should go to the Holy 
Communion : but it is understood that he is not to 
proceed at once to Communion, nor does he consider 
himself prepared therefor. It is a simple transfer of 
obligation from the shoulders of one subject to another: 
an entirely formal act, marked by no spiritual qualifi- 
cation whatsoever. 

The next higher view (that is, one degree less .low) 
is that Confirmation being an item of Church law, all 
the Church's children are bound to conform to it. If 
they have put no particular hindrance in the way by 
evil lives, and in a general sense are willing to promise 
to pay decent respect to the Covenant, they are to be 
admitted, as loyal members of an ecclesiastical govern- 
ment. A shadow of a shade of religious thought 
manifests itself here, because the shadow of the Church 
falls on this conception of Confirmation. 

The next view, beginning to be really higher, be- 
cause it has respect to a spiritual qualification, is, that 
Confirmation is a part of an appointed spiritual educa- 
tion. Holding that a germ of life was planted in 
Baptism, it is held that Confirmation is one of the 
appointed means, and a chief means, of bringing that 
germ to healthful development. It is not required 
that Candidates shall exhibit spiritual life, but taking 
for granted that every one who is baptized has received 
the germs of a spiritual new life, Confirmation is em- 
ployed as a means of forcing that life into exhibition. 

I was present on one occasion when these views were 
put forth in a definite shape. The Sermon before Con- 
firmation had assumed that one who professed to have 
received Christ Jesus the Lord should inquire whether 



156 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

his spiritual life was exhibiting itself as a living union 
with this Saviour. Immediately after the sermon, the 
Candidate was presented to be confirmed, and the 
Bishop addressed him thus : " It is a happy thing, 
my friend, that we are not required to go into any 
difficult questioning as to our union with Christ. We 
have been baptized. We have been admitted* into his 
Church. We have been regenerated by water and the 
Holy Spirit. Our names are on the Register. It (the 
Parish fiegister) will determine that we have a right 
to be admitted to all the privileges of his Church. It 
is a happy thing that we need not trouble ourselves 
with deep spiritual questions, which are so apt to 
mislead the inquirers ; but in simple faith of the fact 
that our names are registered among the baptized 
we may go forward to take the solemn vows of Con- 
firmation, and endeavor to keep them unto our lives' 
end." 

It is to be presumed that in this expression the 
Bishop held that divine grace had been implanted at 
the time of Baptism, and needed only to be properly 
nurtured through Confirmation, and by the means of 
grace which should follow. 

In the next higher view, Confirmation is a means of 
fixing and confirming religious impressions: and should 
be so employed. Positive signs of a spiritual new birth 
are not required : but the Ordinance is employed to 
deepen convictions, to strengthen resolutions, and to 
quicken holy purposes ; in other words, to lead to 
spiritual renewal. This view is advocated by the 
obvious propriety of dealing very gently with tender 
consciences. We ought to encourage by every proper 



VARIOUS VIEWS OF QUALIFICATIONS. 157 

means a preparation of heart which will open the way 
for the implanting of new life. 

But the question is, is the Ordinance an expression 
of spiritual life ? The service for Confirmation so 
declares. But if so, can we use the Ordinance as if it 
were to be the means of giving that life ? We shall 
thereby run the hazard of teaching those who. are 
merely awakened to the importance of religion, that 
they are truly Christians. Ministers are sorely tempted 
to adopt this vi&w. Kindness of disposition, earnest 
desire to cherish the first sparks of religious impression, 
fear lest they should quench the spirit in any heart, as 
well as the difficulty of determining whether a true 
work of grace has begun, combine to render this view 
a popular one. If the next view to be presented is 
the true one, we must not act on this view, however 
attractive. And yet while cautioned against it, we 
must also be cautioned of the difficulty of deciding at 
what moment, or with how little observation, the work 
of the Holy Spirit commences in the soul. At this 
point careful discretion will be called for. The oppo- 
site consideration, however, is scarcely less important. 
There is really more danger of encouraging a false 
profession, than of discouraging true spiritual life. 
The work of divine grace is never effectually hindered 
by external obstacles. That life grows in despite of 
outward difficulties. We have no right to check it : 
yet if we should err on that side, our ignorance or want 
of discretion is not likely to be fatal. Any evil which 
might arise from delaying Confirmation will be easily 
repaired; because so soon as religious life unmistakably 
appears our Church provides that the peison may be 

14 



158 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

admitted to Communion ; and Confirmation will then 
follow at the first convenient season. But it is almost 
impossible to repair the injury, if we should admit a 
person to a profession of Christianity, when spiritual 
life is wanting. The probability is that having sub- 
stituted an unreality for the reality of religion, such 
a person will never recover. 

In the highest view spiritual renewal is presupposed. 
Clergymen differ much in applying this rule; differ 
much in reading the signs of spiritual new life. But 
all who adopt it agree that a spiritual new birth in 
some real sense is a prerequisite for confirmation. 

This view is based upon the words and meaning of 
the Ritual, and the reason of the thing. 

The words of the Preface to Confirmation are sig- 
nificant, "Which order is very convenient to be ob- 
served, to the end that children being now come to 
years of discretion, and having learned what their 
godfathers and godmothers promised for them in bap- 
tism, may themselves with their own mouth and con- 
sent, openly before the Church ratify and confirm the 
same ; and also promise that by the grace of God they 
will evermore endeavor themselves faithfully to observe 
such things, as they by their own confession have 
assented unto." 

In interpreting this language, it is to be noted that, 
although called children, these persons are no longer 
children. Carelessly employed, the language may and 
probably often does mislead. But these are children 
of God at years of discretion, capable of judging in 
spiritual things and acting for themselves, consequently 
no longer children. Let us use the word, persons, as 



VARIOUS VIEWS OF QUALIFICATIONS. }od 

synonymous. These persons understand the vow of 
their Baptism. They come to ratify it. Consequently 
they understand its whole force and intent. Next, 
they assent to what is done. An act of will follows 
upon an act of understanding. And lest this should 
be considered a mere intellectual act, the Church takes 
oare to state, that the person acts by his own mouth 
and consent. Consent implies an act of affections. It 
is consent of the heart. The understanding, the will, 
and the affections, all three are therefore engaged. Nor 
is this a barren act, nor limited by time ; for it leads 
to a promise that this act shall bind for life and govern 
one's actions ever thereafter. But all this might be the 
language of a deceived and self-confident heart. The 
Church makes its caveat here by declaring that this 
act is wholly spiritual, a promise made with entire 
reliance upon the grace of God. 

No terms in our language could more clearly declare 
that the Church supposes herself to be dealing with 
persons who have been spiritually renew T ed. Persons 
of age, discretion in judgment, understanding their 
obligations under the Christian covenant, by an act of 
will, both intellectual and of the heart, and professedly 
acting under the guidance of and dependent on, divine 
grace, assent to, and consent to, and affirm, a determi- 
nation to be guided by the Covenant with our Lord 
Jesus Christ unto their lives 7 end : that Covenant being 
nothing less than to believe all that God has taught, to 
renounce all that He has forbidden, and to do all that 
He has commanded. Without doubt, this is to be a 
Christian : and it cannot be in any real sense unless 
the person has been new born by the Holy Ghost. 



160 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

This view is affirmed by the language of the Thanks- 
giving offered at the time of confirmation. " It hath 
pleased Thee to regenerate these persons by water and 
the Holy Ghost, and to give them forgiveness of all 
their sins." This is true spiritual regeneration ; on the 
one side' signified by the baptism of water, and on the 
other proved by the baptism by the Holy Ghost and 
the remission of sins. It is not a mere repetition of 
language used at Infant baptism with charitable hope. 
These are not infants. They are persons of discretion. 
And the Pastor presents them as persons on whose 
nature (as he believes) has passed that great change 
without which our Saviour says no man can enter the 
kingdom of heaven. So far the language of the Ritual. 

But further : the Rubric requires that persons who 
have been baptized as Adults shall as soon as possible 
be confirmed. Consequently their qualifications for 
Confirmation are the same as, certainly no less than, 
those for Adult Baptism. " Repentance whereby they 
forsake sin and faith, whereby they steadfastly believe 
the promises of God made to them in that Sacrament." 

Their character and confession ! How delicate and 
yet how thorough are the outlines of this portrait of a 
child of God ! " As for you who have now by baptism 
put on Christ, it is your part and duty also, being made 
the child of God and of the light, by faith in Jesus 
Christ, to walk answerably to your Christian calling, 
and as becometh the children of light; remembering 
always that Baptism represented! us unto our profes- 
sion; which is, to follow the example of our Saviour 
Christ, and to be made like unto him ; that as he died, 
and rose again for us, so should we, who are baptized, 



MARKS OF SPIRITUAL CHARACTER. 161 

die from sin, and rise again unto righteousness ; con- 
tinually mortifying all our evil and corrupt affections, 
and daily proceeding in all virtue and godliness of 
living." 

The reason of the thing equally proves our point. 
For Confirmation being intended as a Profession of 
Christ's religion, the Candidate is expected to possess 
what he professes to have. Being intended as a Con- 
fession of Faith, both intellectual and of the heart, 
the Candidate is therefore expected to have this faith 
which he confesses ; and in a good degree. Being in- 
tended to indicate that the person is an established 
Christian, he should therefore be such. Being intended 
to admit him to all Christian privileges, and especially 
to the Lord's Supper, he should therefore be fully 
prepared for that chief privilege of Christian faith. 

The Marks of Spiritual New Birth vary so widely, 
that it is almost impossible to give a test which may be 
universally or invariably applied. Beyond those or- 
dinary signs of faith, expressions of confidence in the 
Saviour, and signs, of spiritual tranquillity after the 
tumult of feeling which follows upon a sense that our 
sins have been forgiven for His name's sake, I think 
the following will be recognized as distinguishing 
marks : 

1. A desire for the salvation of the souls of others. 
It generally shows itself at first in a lively interest for 
the spiritual welfare of some dear friend, and an effort 
to effect it by prayer and labors more or less judicious. 
The circle of interest for others rapidly widens. 

2. A real self-consecration to Christ. A readiness 
to labor for Him anywhere, and in any way which shall 

14* 



162 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

seem to be duty. Often this desire leaps over the 
bounds of discretion, is manifested by zeal rather than 
cautious labor, needs to be repressed, or rather guided, 
instead of being stimulated. 

3. Self-distrust. 

4. New views of Christ ; a sense of his presence and 
influence, unfelt before. A realization of the Saviour, 
as a friend and guide. Consequently what may be 
termed leaning upon him ; not so much a conscious log- 
ical result, or a sort of philosophical spiritual sequence, 
but an unnoticed, almost unconscious result, a needs 
be, as if it were the most natural thing in the world 
and by no means an effort ; a habit of taking counsel 
with the Saviour, appealing for His guidance at all times, 
and walking as if realizing His heavenly presence. 

5. Right views of sin. 

6. A readiness to give up everything that is felt to 
be opposed to the Saviour's service and inconsistent 
with it, or that it is feared, might be so. This shows 
itself in renunciations of worldly life ; a desire to avoid 
irreligious company, a decision to escape the snares of 
fashionable amusements, a breaking off of habits that 
lead into associations uncongenial with the Christian 
life. 

7. A great desire to be at work in the Master's 
cause. This cannot be repressed. The Christian will 
work for Christ. And a Pastor's most arduous labor 
will probably be to find sufficient employment for his 
young Christians. 

The foregoing tests, or some modifications of them, 
may usually be applied to most of those who advise 
with us as to Confirmation. 



MARKS OF SPIRITUAL CHARACTER, 163 

The real question in all cases is, as to the reality, 
not as to the degree of the new life. Bishop Mcll- 
vaine has given admirable cautions :* 

"It is the reality, not the degree of attainment in spiritual 
things, by which you are to judge of your fitness for the Ordi- 
nance in view. Tender consciences are not unfrequently much 
troubled for the want of this distinction. Because they easily 
ascertain that they are very far from having as deep a repent- 
ance, as lively a faith, as fervent a love, and as complete an 
obedience as they ought to have, and as they suppose Christians 
generally have ; they fear they are too far beneath the will of 
God to be warranted in coming to the communion of the Lord's 
Supper, and to that solemn Ordinance which is introductory 
thereto. But who, if this were the true method of ascertaining 
one's fitness, would not be prevented from approaching? True 
Christians are found of very different degrees of attainment in 
grace. But their privileges as Christians, in regard to the com- 
munion of the Church, are not different. Though some are 
more grown than others, all are alive unto God ; and therefore 
all are partakers of the hope of salvation through Christ, and 
of that Communion of his Body and Blood by which the true 
hope is strengthened and animated.'' 

" But the question now is, not whether you have need of more 
repentance and faith and love and obedience and holiness ; but 
whether you have any. Not whether you have advanced to a 
certain measure of growth, but whether you have been born 
into the divine life ; not how far you have attained towards the 
stature of men in Christ Jesus, but whether you have attained 
to the condition of ' children of God and of the light, by faith 
in Christ Jesus.'' You may have been born again of the Holy 
Ghost, and so have begun to live unto God and to be His ' dear 
children,' and yet you may be still in the infancy of grace; 
having all the features of children of God, the heart, the mind, 
the will — and yet all in infancy ; growing indeed, but not grown ; 
becoming daily more established, but yet very weak, very deli- 
cate, and peculiarly dependent upon all the means of grace. The 

* Mcllvaine on Confirmation. 



164 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

question now is, Have you reason to believe that you have been 
born of the Spirit and are children of God ; that you have and 
do repent, believe, love, obey, and follow after holiness ? If you 
answer, l Yes ; though all is exceedingly weak and unworthy.' 
Then come. If any real Christians should more than any others 
partake in Ordinances of a sealing, confirming, and invigorating 
character, surely they are those who are still in the beginning 
of grace." 

Tests of Spiritual Character. 

It has been found profitable by many Pastors to 
place in the hands of -Candidates a series of questions 
prepared and used by the Rev. Dr. Bedell of St. An- 
drew's Church, Philadelphia. I have employed them 
invariably, and always with profit. In not more than 
five or six cases have Candidates shown any reluctance 
to answer them; and those cases could be otherwise 
dealt with. Generally received with gratitude, and an- 
swered with pleasure, they enabled me to discover the 
precise point of spiritual difficulty, if there were any. 
In all cases where it was necessary, the insufficiency of 
replies given to these questions has proved to be a suffi- 
cient reason for the Candidate's withdrawal. 

DR. BEDELL TO HIS CANDIDATES. 

li My dear friend, as you are about to make a profession of re- 
ligion, I am exceedingly anxious that both you and I should be 
satisfied on some important points. In order to this, I have 
adopted a plan which my revered father pursued, for several 
years, in his parish. His example will excuse whatever novelty 
there may seem to be in the request which I now make. It is, 
that you will do me the favor (for I ask it as a favor, not as a 
right) to meditate on the following questions, and give me your 
answers in writing. I have two great objects in view : one is, 
that I may be satisfied as to the correctness of your sentiments ; 
and the other, that should I, at any subsequent periods, as a faith- 



TESTS OF SPIRITUAL CHARACTER. 165 

ful Pastor, be obliged to remind you of any departures from the 
line of duty and love, I may have the advantage of placing be- 
fore you, your own deliberate conclusions, when you joined your- 
self to the Lord, in the bonds of a covenant which ought never 
to be forgotten. Read these questions— pray over them — com- 
pare them with the Word of God. If they in the least depart 
from the simplicity of the Gospel, I have no wish that you should 
answer them. Satisfy your mind on this point. I wish you to 
act conscientiously, and in the fear of God. This is one of the 
most solemn periods of your life, and you must act with eternity 
in view. Take two copies of your answers, written both in pre- 
cisely the same words. Keep one for your own satisfaction — 
read it once every week, by yourself and with prayer ; and com- 
pare your spiritual condition and progress on each such occasion 
with what you now discover them to be. Give the other copy 
into my hands. It is for my private satisfaction, as the Pastor 
set over you in the Lord, and responsible to Him for the manner 
in which I discharge my duty to you. May the Lord direct you, 
and keep you by His grace, and finally present you faultless before 
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. 

"Questions for Self- Examination. 

11 1. Do I acknowledge and feel that I am a sinner in the sight 
of God ? 

" 2. Do I recognize the necessity of repentance ; and what 
good reason have I to suppose that I have repented of my sins? 

" 3. What reasons have I to suppose that I have experienced 
that change of heart which is so often spoken of in Scripture 
and without which no one can enter the kingdom of heaven ? 

" 4. Am I sure that as a sinner, unable to save myself, I am 
resting my only hope upon the sole merits of the Lord Jesus 
Christ ? 

11 5. Do I look upon the Lord Jesus Christ as a Divine Saviour, 
who took our nature upon Him, and died upon the cross as an 
all-sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the world ? 

11 6. Do I think that I am capable, without the influence of the 
Holy Spirit, to turn myself to the service of God ? 

" 7. Do I feel as if it were my duty, as well as my privilege, 
to spend a stated time every day in prayer to God ? Do I take 
pleasure in this ? 



166 PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 

" 8. Do I believe that the Bible is the "Word of God ; and that 
I am bound to obey its requisitions ? 

11 9. Do I think that I ought to read the Bible with regularity 
and prayer ; and do I love to do so ? « 

" 10. Do I believe that I am bound to give up my heart and 
life to the service of God ; and is it my earnest desire to do so ? 

"11. Do I believe it my solemn duty to make a profession of 
religion ? Do I think that I am bound to maintain a consistent 
Christian profession ? 

" 12. What is my candid and free opinion as to the nature of 
what are called the amusements of the world, such as theatres, 
operas, balls, gaming, horse racing, etc. 

" 13. Is it my opinion that I could with any consistency as a 
professing Christian engage in these amusements ? 

" 14. Do I love any of these things now? 

" 15. Should I be led astray in relation to any of these things, 
or should I in any way dishonor my profession, what ought to 
be my own opinion of my own spiritual state ? Ought not my 
Pastor, by counsel or admonition, to lead me back? 

" 16. Do I think that I ought to be much engaged, by every 
lawful means, in advancing the Lord's cause ? 

" 17. Am I determined, by divine grace, to adorn the doctrine 
of God my Saviour ; to follow in every possible way the example 
of Christ ; and to seek, above every thing else, the glory of God, 
and the salvation of my soul ? 

" 18. Have I prayed over these questions, and have I answered 
them sincerely and in the fear of God ? * Be not deceived : God 
is not mocked. ' 

" Let your answers be full and explicit. You may not be able 
to reply as well as you would wish. Do not regard this. Keply 
as well as you are able. Your answers are for my eye alone. If 
you do not feel able to reply at all, I can send you answers for 
your approbation. What I want is to ascertain the state of your 
mind as to the things of religion. Thus I may know how to 
adapt my Christian instruction to your case. 

"Let your answers be written on a separate sheet of letter- 
paper, and let the numbers affixed to your answers correspond 
carefully with the questions. 

" If in any point you are in doubt, let me know. Gladly will 
I seek to direct you in anything which concerns your eternal 



TESTS OF SPIRITUAL CHARACTER. 



167 



peace. Gladly will I pray with you and for you. My heart's 
desire is that you may be saved, and be made, by your precept 
and example, the instrument of saving others ; which may God 
grant, for His mercy's sake in Jesus Christ our Lord. 

11 Your friend and Pastor." 

As an illustration of this method of examining Can- 
didates I record a part of one set of answers, which 
were returned to me. They have been very precious 
to me, and have been tenderly cherished. They were 
written by a servant woman. They exhibit such a 
knowledge of Scripture, and of those wants and ex- 
periences of soul which Scripture meets, that they at 
once revealed the fact that she was a sincere and much 
enlightened child of God. I wish that I had never 
had any greater difficulty in deciding as to the religious 
ripeness of a Candidate, than in this case. 



Questions. 

1. Do I acknowledge and feel 
that I am a sinner in the sight 
of God ? 

2. Do I recognize the neces- 
sity of repentance ; and what 
good reason have I to suppose 
that I have repented of my 
sins? 

3. What reasons have I to 
suppose that I have experienced 
that change of heart which is 
so often spoken of in Scripture, 
and without which no one can 
enter the kingdom of heaven ? 

4. Am I sure that as a sin- 
ner, unable to save myself, I 
am resting my only hope upon 
the sole merits of the Lord 
Jesus Christ? 



Answers. 

1. I acknowledge my trans- 
gressions, my sin is ever before 
me. 

2. For ye have not received 
the spirit of bondage again to 
fear, but ye have received the 
spirit of adoption whereby we 
cry Abba, Father. 

3. For I know that in me, 
that is in my flesh, dwelleth no 
good thing, for to will is present 
with me, but how to perform 
that is good, I find not. 

4. Who is he that condemn- 
ed. It is Christ that died. 
Yea, rather that is risen again. 
Who is ever at the right hand 
of God. Who also maketh 
intercession for us. 



168 



PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION. 



Questions. 

12. What is my opinion as 
to the nature of what are called 
the amusements of the world, 
such as theatres, balls, gaming, 
horse racing ? etc. 

13. Is it my opinion that I 
could with any consistency as 
a professing Christian engage 
in these amusements ? 

14. Do I love these things 
now? 

15. Should I be led astray in 
relation to any of these things ? 
etc. 

18. Have I prayed over these 
questions, and have I answered 
them sincerely and in the fear 
of God? "Be not deceived: 
God is not mocked." 



Answers. 

12. For they that are after 
the flesh do mind the things of 
the flesh ; but they that are 
after the Spirit the things of 
the spirit. 

13. So then they that are in 
the flesh cannot please God. 



14. Set your affections on 
things above, not on things on 
the earth. 

15. Wherefore let him that 
thinketh he standeth take heed 
lest he fall, 

18. Lord, all my desire is 
before Thee. Teach me Thy 
way, O Lord, I will walk in 
thy truth. Incline my heart to 
fear thy name. 



In using such helps, the Pastor must make it a rule 
to present the questions to every Candidate, without an 
exception, even when it does not appear to be abso- 
lutely necessary ; so that his custom may appear not 
less than a rule, and the presentation in any case may 
not be deemed invidious. 

It is an advantage for a Pastor to have beside him, 
at subsequent periods, evidence of what was the Chris- 
tian's state of mind at the time of Confirmation. This 
is frankly stated in the letter referred to : and should 
be understood. These answers may be employed, when 
necessary, as a means of administering unobtrusive 
counsel or reproof. I have found it sufficient to recall 
a Christian from wandering, or to protect a Christian 



TESTS OF SPIRITUAL CHARACTER. 169 

against temptation, quite sufficient, to read over, with 
such a person, the terms of this voluntary covenant 
with Christ. 

Some Clergymen urge young Christians to make a 
written dedication of themselves to God. Two evils 
may be feared from this course : encouraging an over- 
estimate of religious self-consecration : and encouraging 
a feeling that one is doing a meritorious service, and 
therefore I do not recommend it. 



H 15 



CONFIRMATION. 
CHAPTER X. 

INSTRUCTION FOLLOWING THE RITE. 

Instruction subsequently to Confirmation is an impor- 
tant Pastoral duty ; certainly not less important than 
that which precedes the Rite. It should embrace two 
topics; namely. 

The Dangers which threaten the Confirmed : and 

The Duties which devolve on them. 

Dangers. — The primary danger to one who has lately 
been confirmed arises from the pressure of temptation. 
In order to impress it, give it shape, and exhibit clearly 
the mode of relief, Satan should be revealed as its 
source. " We are not ignorant of his devices." * 

Supineness may be encouraged by the idea that 
we are wrestling with a common foe ; or indeed with 
an imaginary being. Satan is sometimes supposed to 
exist only as evil desires within : an impersonal foe. 
On the contrary we are engaged against a personal 
spiritual being of great intellectual power, acuteness, 
and malice. Although "not less than Archangel 
ruined," he does not possess all knowledge, however. 
He is not omniscient. He can know us only by our 

* 2 Corinthians ii. 11. 
170 



DANGERS. 171 

acts; he judges by them: he cannot discover our dis- 
positions or designs except by lives which he sees, and 
words which he hears. Our advice then is very urgent 
that we should watch over actions and words in order 
to prevent his discovery of our peculiarities, and to 
avoid giving him a clue by which he might fit his 
temptations to our case. 

Encourage self-distrust. Let there be no want of 
manly confidence in oneself, under the resources which 
God in His grace and Gospel presents. Every external 
indication of faulty disposition and desire should be 
prevented. A look, an act, a word, especially one's 
habitual manner, may lay open one's whole soul to 
so subtle and wise an observer of character as Satan. 
God alone, blessed be his name ! sees and reads our 
hearts. If, therefore, we can avoid the signs, the ex- 
ternal marks, of weakness, we shall prevent the Devil 
from discovering the real extent, and certainly the par- 
ticular details, of our spiritual infirmities. We thus 
close at least one door against him. He may resort to 
shrewd guesses and ingenious device : but in war there 
is every difference between an enemy who spies the in- 
terior of a castle, and one who only infers what it is 
likely to be. 

As an illustration of this truth, observe, that when 
the Tempter came to Jesus, he was baffled by his purity 
and silence ; wholly baffled. He guessed by signs of 
physical weakness ; but he guessed wrongly. In every 
case, Jesus was so careful in his words, that the Tempter 
could not obtain any distinct idea of his desires or dis- 
position. In one instance he caught at Jesus' language; 
but again he was mistaken. In the last temptation he 



172 CONFIRMATION. 

resorted to a supposition. He assumed that to be true 
which he thought the Messiah would probably desire : 
but again he utterly missed his mark. So valuable are 
purity of conduct, and silence, or discreet words, in 
baffling the Tempter. 

In presenting this exceedingly important subject I 
can only suggest thoughts ; leaving to those who read 
to give them that full measure and roundness w T hich 
will be needed when they are to be emnloyed in Pas- 
toral ministration. 

The peculiarities of Satan's Temptations are to be 
considered. It is his habit to conceal himself. He is 
always disguised. He comes to us in unexpected forms, 
the most dangerous of which is the guise of friendship. 
He pretends to be afraid that these young soldiers of 
Christ will become over-religious, and thereby injure 
themselves by over-exertion in the cause of Christ 
either in bodily health, or mental or spiritual equa- 
nimity. Worldly friends often take this ground ; and 
worse than all, sometimes professed Christian friend- 
ship, whose religion has become cold, uses this advice, 
as much we surmise to excuse itself as to defend the 
young Christian from harm. In another guise the 
Devil offers to become an expounder of Holy Scripture. 
In cases of doubt he tempts one to become impatient 
of the ordinary guidance of the Divine Word sought 
for by prayer. He proposes to settle the question 
sooner by following the guidance of feeling, or the 
maxims of worldly wisdom, or the advice of a class 
of friends whom ordinary Christian prudence would 
lead us to avoid. In any such case it is important to 
point out that the Bible is the only rule ; that under 



TEMPTATIONS DESTROYING HOPE. 173 

the guidance of the Spirit as Interpreter, its obvious 
meaning can be trusted. That the safe rule is, to dis- 
trust every suggestion which would lead from a higher 
to a lower standard of piety : or which diminishes 
devotion, or detracts from a true surrender to Christ, 
or renders one less active in his service, or makes one 
less spiritual, or inclines one to approach to the former 
line of worldly life. Distrust the influence of business, 
or even of study, or even of benevolent activity, if the 
necessary effect of them is to absorb time in such a 
manner as to prevent proper habits of religion, and 
attention to the primary duties of life. Ministers 
should be on their guard against this temptation ; for 
the tendency of close engagement in religious duties is 
to diminish attention to personal religion. 

Observe the ingenuity of Satan's plan when he pre- 
sents temptations to sin, the purpose and result of which 
is to destroy hope. If the Devil can induce a young 
Christian to sin, hope will be dimmed ; and if sin in- 
creases, hope will die. But with the diminution of 
hope, religious fervor, and activity in Christ's work are 
necessarily diminished. And so the one reacting on the 
other, sin and hopelessness increase to the ruin of piety. 
This class of temptations assumes various forms ; one 
of which is to relaxation of efforts. A Pastor here will 
make great use of our Saviour's example, of constancy 
in well doing and in loving labors, in order to blunt 
and destroy the force of this temptation. 

Another is to omit specific religious duties. A Pastor 
will show that these religious acts are to become habit- 
ual. In order to protect himself, the young Christian 
must gain habits. Let no pressure of circumstances, 

15* 



174 CONFIRMATION. 

either religious or worldly, interfere with the constant 
recurrence of duties. Remember no wise man is 
governed by circumstances. Wise men always control 
them. 

Another device is to tempt one to return little by little 
towards, and at last to resume worldly habits and customs 
which had been renounced. At this point a Pastor 
will meet, and should distinctly define the extent and. 
lines of Renunciation, which is vowed in Baptism, and 
reaffirmed in Confirmation. 

WORLDLY AMUSEMENTS. 

The question what worldly amusements, customs, and 
habits are to be abandoned when one becomes a pro- 
fessing Christian is of no less importance than difficulty. 
The difficulty arises from the shelving off at the lines 
of contact between harmless and harmful amusements : 
and between harmless and inexpedient amusements. 
Here the Pastor's wisdom and skill exhibit themselves. 
Here his gentleness, sympathies, and fidelity all apply 
themselves to the task of settling doubts and aiding 
a young Christian's judgment. The questions will be 
easily put at rest if the person who presents them is 
thoroughly spiritually-minded ; indeed in that case will 
seldom even be suggested ; and just in proportion to the 
earnestness of religion will be easily answered. 

The general principles have been better stated — more 
simply, succinctly, and practically stated — by the late 
Dr. Bedell in his Essay on Worldly Amusements, than 
I have ever seen them elsewhere. 

The principles stated by Dr. Bedell are these. 

It is a Communicant's duty to renounce whatever will 



TEMPTATIONS DESTROYING HOPE. 175 

tend to destroy personal religion : will have a tendency 
to weaken the influence of religion on the minds of 
others : will be in danger of putting a stumbling-block 
in the way of many : will give unnecessary offence to 
the feelings of many conscientious fellow Christians : 
will be inconsistent with the word of God.* 

No serious-minded Christian can dispute the correct- 
ness of these principles. And I am inclined to think 
that no Pastor will find difficulty in applying these 
principles, where a Christian is really desirous of know- 
ing the truth. 

As to the evil habits of gaming and horse-racing, 
Christians do not often differ. 

As to public Balls and the Theatre, some Pastors may 
be helped by the following statement of the argument : 

THE CHURCH'S RULE. 

11 The Church's rule in all things is based upon Scripture, and 
is derived from it. The Scriptural rule, which covers these par- 
ticulars, is given by St. Paul in Komans xii. 2, to wit: 'Be not 
conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing 
of your minds.' And in Titus ii. 11-14, to wit: * The grace of 
God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men, teach- 
ing us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should 
live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, look- 
ing for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the 
Great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ ; who gave Himself for 
us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto 
Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.' 

* This Essay is attached to Bickersteth's Treatise on the Lord's 
Supper, as published by Kobert Carter, of New York ; or in a 
still more convenient form it is published by T. Whittaker, as 
" The Renunciation" : a little book which might wisely be given 
to every Candidate immediately after Confirmation. 



176 CONFIRMATION. 

"The point of this Scriptural rule is, that we should live 
* godly, 5 i.e. j for God, 'in this present world,' 'not conformed 
to this world,' but as ' a peculiar people,' as the same Apostle 
writes, Ephes. ii. 2, thereby enabling us to define what he 
means by the term ' transformed,' and showing that the trans- 
formation extends to practices as well as to disposition ; to wit, 
' in times past ye walked according to the course of this world, 
according to the Prince of the power of the air,' i.e n the devil. 
It is a transformation from a ' course of life in ' this world,' 
which was under the general guidance of evil principles, and 
conformed to worldly customs, to a course of life under the 
guidance of Christ, and conformed to the ' peculiar' customs of 
His ' people,' who are ' zealous of good works.' In other words, 
the Apostle declares that Christians have ceased to follow the 
habits of ' the world' in those particulars which display world- 
liness of spirit, and have conformed to habits which exhibit 
spiritual-mindedness. 

" What, then, did the Apostle mean by the term ' the world' ? 
He has not left us in doubt. And his definition will show the 
bearing of this Scriptural rule upon the particular customs in 
question. 

"The Apostle frequently speaks of the 'world' in contrast 
with the Church of Christ, in his Epistles to the Corinthians ; 
and it is not doubted that by this term, ' the world,' he charac- 
terizes that dominion which is opposed to the dominion of Christ 
over the affections and conduct, and out of which one passes 
into the Christian kingdom. Every classical student and every 
person familiar with Grecian history, and especially with Co- 
rinthian customs, knows that 'public balls' and 'theatres' were 
associated with, and were part of, that idolatrous and ungodly 
system which is characterized by St. Paul as 'the world,' the 
spirit of which is described as ' worldliness.' These two par- 
ticular customs were considered as belonging to, and significant 
of, the authority of ' the Prince of the power of the air' over 
those who were habituated to or adopted them. Therefore, it 
was with reference to these practices, among others, namely: 
'public balls' and 'theatres,' that the Apostle, in his second 
Epistle to the Corinthians vi. 17, lays down this rule, 'Where- 
fore, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith 



TEMPTATIONS DESTROYING HOPE. 177 

the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.' Such is the 
Scriptural rule for Communicants. They are to separate them- 
selves from, not to be conformed to, l worldliness' which is the 
spirit, and l the world' which is the practice, renounced by e 
them, when in baptism they renounced l the devil and all his 
works.' 

11 If ' public balls' and ' theatres' have ceased to be what they 
were in Apostles' days, or now lead, not to demoralization 
and unspiritual-mindedness, but to virtue, godliness, and purity, 
no doubt the Apostolic rule has ceased to apply. But until they 
shall be transformed in their customs and tendencies, these two 
worldly practices must be considered to lie under the Apostolic 
prohibition. Upon this Kule the Church's Law is framed, and 
is, of course, consonant with it. 

u The Baptismal Kule is renunciation 'of the devil and all his 
works ;' and it will be difficult to give a full catalogue of all that 
tends to lead the mind and affections away from God and the 
life of religion back again to the world, unless the two customs 
in question are included in it. The Confirmation Rule implies 
this separation ; for it is neither reasonable nor possible to con- 
ceive that the prayer can be answered, ' that he may daily in- 
crease in thy Holy Spirit,' if, on any day, the Confirmed indulge 
in these practices. It is not supposed that any Christian regards 
1 public balls' or 'the theatre' as means of grace. 

" The Eule of Holy Communion requires this separation, and 
the being l not conformed ;' for in the Invocation, l we offer and 
present unto' the ' Lord' ' ourselves, our souls and bodies to be a 
reasonable, holy and living sacrifice.' It is not supposable that 
we could include in the idea of our l living sacrifice' offered to 
God, the idea of participating in those particular customs which 
were habits of idolatrous sacrifices. 

Accordingly, the Bishops of our Church and the Conventions 
of our Dioceses have stated the Bule for Communicants in sim- 
ilar terms. The House of Bishops, in a resolution May 27, 1817, 
' solicitous for the preservation of the purity of the Church and 
the piety of its members, warn the people of the danger of in- 
dulging in those worldly pleasures which tend to withdraw the 
affections from spiritual things. Especially on the subject of 
gaming, of amusements involving cruelty to the brute creation , 

H* 



178 CONFIRMATION. 

and of theatrical representations, they express their unanimous 
opinion, that from their licentious tendency and the strong 
temptations to vice which they afford, they ought not to be 
frequented.' 

" Again, in their Pastoral Letter of 1817, the Bishops say of 
the theatre, l that it is a foul source of very extensive corrup- 
tion. , Similar language is held in several subsequent Pastoral 
Letters. 

"In 1868 the Bishops say: 'Informer Pastoral Letters we 
have warned you concerning worldly amusements and of the 
tendency of many forms of them to create a distaste for pure,, 
simple, and domestic pleasures, innocent enjoyments and espe- 
cially for the stern duties and elevated sympathies of a holy 
life.' ■ In our day there is a licentiousness and grossness in 
theatrical and like entertainments which would have been shock- 
ing to even the least refined in the days of our fathers. We 
exhort you to flee these things ; and above all to separate from 
all contact with their pollutions the young and precious souls for 
whom you have answered in Holy Baptism.' 

"And in 1871, the Bishops 'renew the warnings' 'against 
those public amusements, from the sight and lessons of which 
any true morality, to say nothing of true religion, ought to 
make good men and women withdraw themselves, and most 
scrupulously keep their children.' 

" In the last General Convention, the House of Bishops passed 
a resolution, which, although not enacted into a canon by the 
House of Deputies, is an expression of the opinion of the Bishops 
on the general subject. The particular points in question are 
included under the injunction ' to exhibit to the world in the 
membership of the Church, a peculiar people, called out to be 
separate from all vain pomps and glories, and all things which 
imperil spirituality of life :' and in the warning against ' attend- 
ance at places frequented by evil livers.' The expression of 
opinion is as follows : 

" ' Ministers shall also be continually diligent in the inculca- 
tion of Christian holiness of life in such following of the example 
of our Saviour Christ as shall exhibit to the world in the mem- 
bership of the Church a peculiar people, called out to be separate 
:from all vain pomps and glories, covetous desires, fraudulent 



TEMPTATIONS DESTROYING HOPE. 179 

dealings, and all things which imperil spirituality of life; and 
more specifically, as occasion shall require, shall warn their 
people against habits of gaming, intemperance, the criminal 
destruction of ante-natal life, attendance at places frequented by 
evil livers, and sports abused to purposes of licentiousness or 
fraud ; exhorting to the maintenance of family worship and the 
due observance of the Lord's Day ; and calling upon parents 
and sponsors to train their children and god-children, both by 
precept and example, faithfully to observe their baptismal vows.' 

" In the Pastoral Letter of 1877, the Bishops assume that 
1 associations with the play-house are inconsistent with Christian 
character.' Individual Bishops have given similar expression 
to their opinions. 

"Archbishop Seeker, commenting on the renunciation in Bap- 
tism, writes: 'not only the heathen world had its idolatrous 
pomps and immoral vanities, which were meant by this renuncia- 
tion at the first, but that which calls itself Christian is full of 
things from which a Christian must abstain; all diversions, en- 
tertainments, and acquaintances, that have a tendency to hurt our 
morals or our piety.' 

" Bishop Daniel "Wilson (whose unblemished character and con- 
sistent piety give weight to his opinion) remarks : ' The Christian 
renounces all vain and foolish mis-employment of time ; stage- 
plays, operas, and other seducing amusements^ 

"Bishop Henshaw says : 'Those pleasures which inflame the 
passions : all those trifling and corrupting pleasures which are 
fondly pursued by the world.' 

" It would not be possible to make an enumeration of customs 
which are thus characterized, without including 'public balls' 
and ' theatres.' 

"Accordingly, the Diocesan Convention of Virginia, in 1818, 
at that time combining such social influences as to be rightly 
capable of giving tone to the moral sentiment of our Church ; — 
containing then, and speaking by the mouth of, such men as 
William H. Wilmer, Bushrod Washington, and Edmund I. 
Lee; — defining the prohibition of the Bishops' Pastoral Letter 
of 1817, declares its ' opinion, that gaming, attending on theatres, 
public balls, horse racing, should be relinquished by all the com- 
municants of this Church.' 



180 CONFIRMATION. 

" The Convention of the Diocese of Ohio, in 1821, declared 
that { theatrical amusements ought not to be frequented, espe- 
cially by Communicants' : and in 1825, declared, that { whereas 
the practice of mixing in the fashionable amusements of the 
world is inconsistent with the principles of Christianity, and has 
a direct tendency to check the progress of vital religion, it be 
earnestly recommended to the members of this Church, to abstain 
from frequenting balls } and other places of vain amusement.' 

"The Kule of Scripture, thus expounded by the Church for 
Communicants forbids attendance on 'Public Balls,' and > The- 
atres.' 

11 Common sentiment sufficiently defines the amusements which 
are thus named. Publicity, and indiscriminate attendance, are 
associated with the idea. Those amusements are especially ob- 
noxious to the rule which separate young people from the safe- 
guards of home, and from the protection of the conventionalities 
of that social life to which their parents or guardians are accus- 
tomed. Should a Communicant ever feel a doubt as to the pro- 
priety of joining in an amusement to which he or she is invited, 
it will be wise, as well as safe, to abstain from that which is ques- 
tionable. 

"It is not easy to draw the line which separates public from 
private amusements ; or objectionable from those which are per- 
missible. But, 'gaming,' 'horse racing,' 'public balls,' and 
' theatres,' have been declared by the Church to be objectionable ; 
and as to others, a Communicant, and especially a young Com- 
municant, will do well to keep within the safeguards of home 
life, and of that social circle which is frequented and adorned by 
a parent's presence. 

" ' And thou, man of God, speak thou the things which become 
sound doctrine,' ' that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate' ; 
1 the aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh 
holiness,' ' that they may teach the young women to be discreet, 
chaste, keepers at home.' 'Young men likewise exhort to be 
sober-minded.' ' In all things showing thyself & pattern of good 
works.' " 

A Pastor will decide many cases of conscience in 
these and similar respects with peculiar tenderness. 



TEMPTATIONS DESTROYING HAPPINESS. 181 

Great allowances must be made for the influence of 
education and peculiar social habits which surround a 
young Christian. Whilst faithful to the purity of the 
Gospel, and regardful of the true character of Christ's 
Church, yet the Pastor will do well to remember that 
he is the servant of Him who never broke a bruised 
reed nor quenched the smoking flax. 

Another form of Satan's temptation, leads one to 
yield again to one's easily besetting sin. Here a Pastor 
will show the terrible danger of -taking the first step 
back. All the danger lies there. "Ce n'est que le 
premier pas qui coute." 

A temptation to self-confidence and self-satisfaction, as 
if the whole business of religion were now done, and 
the matter settled forever : as if the person being now 
under the grace of God, on which he presumes, were 
quite able to take care of his religious future. This is 
a fruitful source of disasters, repentance, and grief. 

Observe the ingenuity of another class of tempta- 
tions : temptations to doubt in order to destroy the happi- 
ness of religious life. Unhappiness in religion is very 
likely to lead to distrust of Christ, and a return to irre- 
ligion ; therefore the Devil strives to make the young 
Christian unpeaceful, at the very point where he ex- 
pected to find peace. A Christian should be advised to 
consider temporary unpeacefulness as a temptation, not 
as a sin : and then should be urged not to let it become 
a sin. He should not yield to it in the least degree. 
Let the promises of Christ be often read, and realized. 
Prayer should be resorted to. Acts of faith, obedience, 
and loving devotion should be constant. A Christian 

16 



182 CONFIRMATION. 

actively engaged in loving ministries for Christ's sake 
is not often a doubting Christian. This case will be 
specifically treated hereafter, when we consider various 
phases of religious experience. It is enough here to 
say, that when these temptations arise among Candi- 
dates, a Pastor's wisest plan will be, to draw them out 
of themselves and away from self-contemplation as far 
as possible. It is not wise to throw them into a whirl- 
pool of doubts circling round the questions, whether their 
repentance is real, or their faith in the Saviour sufficient. 
Enlist their activity in outside work for Christ. Let 
it be work which will call out their affections to Him 
through true charities. Thus by the best logic of facts 
they will be convinced that Satan's assertion is false, 
and that he lies (as usual) when he whispers that they 
are not true to Christ and have ceased to love Him. 

Duties. — As a preliminary consideration it is to be 
pressed on the Confirmed that by the nature of the 
vow, duties are incumbent, and are to be done at every 
cost and hazard. But to relieve an undue pressure, let 
it be remembered that God never requires of us more 
than one duty at a time. He gives us time enough for 
each. If a crowd of duties were forcing themselves at 
any one moment, they would become oppressive ; but 
each is approached singly ; and being singly considered 
is bravely faced, and performed. 

The most prominent Duties are prayer, devotional 
reading and study, and personal usefulness. 

A habit of prayer. — We cannot trust ourselves to per- 
form punctually even so sacred a duty as prayer, until 
it becomes habitual and is enjoyed. The principle of 



DUTIES. ISo 

duty must be established by habit of practice. In 
order to form firm habits, which are repetitions of action 
or thoughts, we engage ourselves in them by the asso- 
ciations of time, place, manner, and surrounding cir- 
cumstances. 

1. Private Prayer. — It should occur Morning and 
Evening. We should have a fixed hour for it and a 
place. It is well to have a room for private prayer : 
and a place in the room devoted to it. In the Mission- 
ary School at Basle, each student had an oratory, a little 
apartment of his own, used for no other purpose than 
prayer. An hour or part of an hour early in the day 
is best suited for prayer. It is better to secure it before 
business or pleasure divide one's thoughts. Some use 
the quiet hour of twilight in the evening. 

The most advanced Christians have observed a few 
moments at noon for prayer. David prayed three times 
a day : even seven times a day. The busiest Christian 
cannot be more busy than he. A workman, a mill- 
hand, a merchant, or a mother, any one, can find and 
take a few moments of nooning to retire within oneself 
to commune with God. 

2. Family Prayer. — All the family should be pres- 
ent; the servants as well as the children. Regularity 
in hour and place are very important because of the 
valuable uses of association, and that business or do- 
mestic arrangements may be adjusted to them. When 
a family rule is fixed in this respect, Roman Cath- 
olic servants are allowed to attend, if it is under- 
stood that otherwise they lose their situation. The 
Priests however recommend that they shall cross them- 
selves ; a harmless habit, to which it is not worth our 



184 co x firm a no X. 

while to object. Besides having a fixed hour and place 
it is of advantage to use a special prayer desk, for hold- 
ing the Family Bible, and Prayer Book. Let it be so 
made that it cannot be employed for any other family 
purpose. Children thus learn to venerate the symbols 
of family devotion. 

Once, visiting a Presbyterian friend in Philadelphia, 
as he was showing me his beautiful home, he touched 
a spring in a panel within the wall on the stairway, and 
a door sprang open into a thoroughly appointed little 
family chapel. Everything within this beautiful room 
was suggestive of prayer : and it was never used for 
any other purpose. Those who have been privileged 
to worship morning and evening in the private Chapels 
of religious families in England will not soon forget 
the sweet impression of sacredness in place and manner. 
It would be well if without degenerating into super- 
stitions we could enjoy in our own America more of 
such holy associations of place and circumstances in our 
Family devotion. 

Social Prayer, — We only name it now. AVe shall 
consider the subject of Social Prayer definitely under 
the topic of Social Instruction. 

Public Prayer. — Let punctuality be observed : and 
also strict attention to the forms of worship ; and these 
both for the sake of personal advantage, and for the 
sake of example. A Christian's example in this re- 
spect is of prime importance as a member of a Church 
whose principles are order, fixed regularity, and whole- 
some forms. Example is exceedingly important in 
educating children and dependents to follow these wise 
rules. Punctuality means on the point of time. Half- 



DUTIES. 185 

past ten means half-past ten; eleven o'clock means 
eleven o'clock, not five, minutes after or fifteen minutes 
late ; (and, by the way, means it for the Minister, as 
well as the people ;) not after the sentences have been 
read ; not when the noise of one's creaking boots or 
rustling silks may disturb the solemnity of the exhorta- 
tion or the sacredness of confession, or prevent the quiet 
appreciation of the absolution. 

Attention to forms should be pressed on the Con- 
firmed as a solemn duty. Opportunity should be taken 
to impress the importance of posture. It may even be 
necessary to explain that sitting is not kneeling in 
prayer; neither is sitting to sing that posture which 
our Church teaches us to use in praising God. The 
all-seeing God perceives, and a quick-witted Devil also 
perceives, that, that nondescript lazy half-sitting, half- 
bowing posture which is the fashion nowadays, instead 
of being both kneeling and sitting, is neither. God dis- 
cerns when such a posture is necessary to a Christian on. 
account of bodily infirmity. But when the Devil per- 
ceives, as he can easily do by unmistakable signs, that 
such a posture is assumed for sheer laziness, he seizes 
that open door to thrust in his temptations ; and he holds 
it open, until he has produced thereby listlessness and 
wandering thoughts, and not seldom sleepiness and sleep. 

Impress on the Confirmed the importance of respond- 
ing in audible tones, tones that will encourage both the 
Minister and our neighbors : not indeed for the purpose 
of disturbing any, but of encouraging all. Impress 
the importance of saying Amen ; at the right places. 
It greatly assists the liveliness of one's own devotion ; 
and breaks up the currents of wandering thoughts. 

16* 



1 8 6 CONFIRM A TION. 

Devotional reading, and Study of Scripture. — This 
duty is evident. Study is the easiest of the two : 
Devotional reading is the more difficult. To assist in 
the latter, devotional helps should be used. Practical 
Commentaries on Scripture are of great value; such as 
Scott, especially; and experimental books, such as 
Bridges on the CXIX. Psalm, or Archbishop Leighton, 
or Jay's Morning and Evening Exercises ; or Hannah 
Morels devotions ; or Thomas a Kempis. 

Study should be study, not the pretence of it. Next 
to the study of the Originals, we recommend the study 
of the English version. We have lately heard of a 
Lady who studied Hebrew for no other purpose than 
that she might appreciate more thoroughly the devo- 
tional treasures of the Old Testament Scriptures, espe- 
cially the Psalms. But few may be capable of such 
an effort. The best mode of individual religious study 
of the English version, is, by References ; comparing 
Scripture with Scripture. The worst method is de- 
pendence on Commentaries, which, instead of helping 
one to think, saves one the trouble of thinking. The 
American Tract Society's Commentary is a good hand- 
book for private study ; suggestive but not substitu- 
tionary. 

Add to this study reflection, meditation, and prayer. 
By these means a simple-minded child of God, even 
without much learning, will become capable of discern- 
ing the " wondrous things" out of God's law, and dis- 
covering the depth of the riches of the revelation of 
God's love in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Personal usefulness is among the most important par- 
ticulars to be pressed on a young Christian. Progress, 



PERSONAL USEFULNESS. 187 

and happiness, will largely depend on the conscientious- 
ness with which he sets himself at once about the 
Lord's work; and somewhat upon the degree of in- 
telligent knowledge with which his Pastor guides 
him. Here a Minister's responsibility shows itself 
very quickly, and at this point skill, experience, and 
wisdom will be instantly put to the test. 

The principles which guide personal usefulness, 
are to be, thorough self-consecration ; readiness for 
self-sacrifice; supreme devotion to Christ; deep in- 
terest in the welfare of those who are to be influenced ; 
including an interest both in their spiritual health and 
their temporal happiness. Adaptation of means to 
ends : in other words, tact. Contrivance of means for 
ends : in other words, ingenuity and skill. 

The applications of these principles are to be guided 
by the following, among many, important rules. 

Christians are to act in their own sphere, not outside 
of it. 

Their object should be a definite one ; to promote 
Christ's glory. 

The means used should advance the spiritual good 
of others : and sometimes indirectly, but oftenest di- 
rectly, advance the temporal happiness of others. 

1. Each is to be assisted in determining what he or 
she can do in their own sphere. Young men may be 
called to enter the Ministry : but it is not every earnest 
young Christian man's duty to preach the Gospel. 
Some skilful workmen in the handicrafts can serve 
Christ much better there than in preaching. Many a 
Merchant, or a Shoemaker, or a Blacksmith can do 
better work for Christ in those vocations, than by 



188 CON FIRM A TION. 

undertaking to guide men's spiritual interests. It is 
to be borne in mind that Christ needs servants in every 
sphere. Therefore let no young man be disturbed in 
his business calling, unless it is certain that the Lord 
has called him to the Ministry. " Let every man abide 
in the same calling wherein he was called."* 

Men and women are to be instructed how to serve 
Christ within the lines of their daily employment. 
They are to act precisely within the limits which God's 
Providence has fixed. An artisan is not to attempt to 
show a banker how he can more profitably manage his 
exchange for the glory of Christ. A landsman may 
not wisely attempt to teach a conscientious sea captain 
how to sail his ship for the greater glory of God. A 
Christian woman may use her influence in the social 
circle to remedy disorders, and improve customs and 
the general tone of Society. But she would be stepping 
out of her sphere to enter my domestic circle and help 
me rule the house, or my wife to manage her intricate 
housewifery. Onesimus the Christian was a servant 
still, although he was to be esteemed as a brother 
beloved. Each Christian is to work within his 
sphere. 

2. In all occupations, plans and purposes let Christ's 
glory be the one object. A Christian should know no 
other purpose ; and this ought to be kept constantly in 
view. So the Apostles taught. A worthy object in 
one's life glorifies it. If Christ be all in all to a 
servant or a master, to a parent or a child, to a clerk 
or to the merchant who is wielding a thousand clerkly 

* 1 Corinthians vii. 20. 



PERSONAL INFLUENCE. 189 

forces, each of tliera has an equally glorious task. Let 
us remember the old saying ; An Angel sent to rule a 
kingdom, and an Angel sent to rock the cradle of a 
Christ child, among the poorest of the poor, would be 
equally happy, and his task equally ennobled. 

3. Efforts to do good are to be made by conversa- 
tion; by tracts; by silent consistency of life; by earnest 
activity; by prayer for others; by particular plans 
suited to special cases. 

Sometimes, however, every door is shut except that 
which is opened close beside the Mercy-seat. At a 
revival near New Brunswick an aged negro woman 
full of faith, sitting in the gallery, watched the young 
men below her, not having any special interest in either 
of them. She fixed her mind on one who attracted 
attention by some quietness of demeanor; and she 
began to commune with her Father in heaven, con- 
cerning that young man, until she saw that he had 
been influenced to go to the Minister for counsel. 
Then she selected another as an object for her prayer. 
And so sitting alone in her gallery, unnoticed in her 
silence, she prayed until one after another of the body 
of students below her — ten or more, it is said — had 
become subjects of the gracious influence of the Holy 
Spirit. In the wonderful arrangements pf means to 
ends, or, if one prefers to call them so, of precedents 
to consequents, in the Divine plan, we cannot decide 
how much, or how little, of the final result w T as due 
to her special prayer. But the fact is recorded as it 
occurred. It was a sequence, certainly, if not a con- 
sequence. Every Pastor may rejoice to know that 
there is ever lying behind his direct efforts, the indi- 



190 CON FIRM A TION. 

rectly acting forces of hearty faithful prayer, offered 
for special cases. 

In the use of tracts, good sense should be exercised. 
No one should be encouraged to distribute tracts with- 
out discrimination. "The swearer's prayer" was left 
at my door in New York regularly month after month ; 
subsequently varied by the " drunkard's grave." Ad- 
mirable tracts, but worse than useless if generally dis- 
tributed in that mode. It would be quite as useful to 
the distributor to have it done by a messenger boy. 
If this distribution is to become, as it may well be, 
a tremendous instrument for good, young Christians 
should be taught to use their judgment with some 
knowledge, and to manifest a personal interest in the 
results ; and also to follow them up by personal con- 
versation. 

In rare cases, especially when the parties are very 
familiar, personal conversation may injure the applica- 
tion of this spiritual force. In those cases the tract 
must take its course as an arrow shot at a venture. 

4. Personal comfort of soul and body. — Let every 
young Christian strive first of all to make home happy. 
Cultivate social qualities. Cultivate the mind. Read 
books that lead to thought. Thus the Christian may 
be able to talk interestingly. It is well to become 
familiar with some one science, or art, or department 
of history. These; furnish inexhaustible themes for 
conversation, and enable one to illustrate happily the 
grand truths of religion. Christians should discourage 
parsimony ; using * economy of course, but in every 
way they should make home the most attractive place 
on earth. Wisdom will be given if the Holy Spirit's 



PERSONAL USEFULNESS. 191 

aid is sincerely sought. Similar suggestions apply to 
the efforts which a Christian ought to make to increase 
the happiness of other homes ; especially of poorer 
homes. A thousand methods will occur to an in- 
genious and a sympathetic nature by which, without 
intrusion, he may bring or send happiness into homes 
where only misery has been known. 

Coming to the Lord's Supper. — This is both duty 
and privilege. The Confirmed ought not to be satis- 
fied, until they have made this solemn act a religious 
habit, and learned to enjoy it. 



CONFIRMATION. 



CHAPTER XL 

INSTRUCTION FOLLOWING THE RITE. 

The Candidates after Confirmation should not be 
left to find their own way onward in a religious life. 
Many of them will be young and inexperienced. These 
need a Pastor's guidance, sympathy, and care. The 
result of throwing them immediately upon their own 
resources, may be to expose them to temptation, and 
often does invite their downfall. It is not seldom said, 
" My Pastor was exceedingly interested in my welfare 
before I was confirmed ; since then, he has forgotten 
me ; he does not seem to care, whether I become strong 
and stable, or remain always a child in grace." Such 
expressions ought not ever to have even a shadow of 
truth in them. 

The Confirmed may be helped as a class. — Continued 
instruction to them in a class will be less invidious than 
instructions to individuals. It will also give oppor- 
tunity for indirectly counselling those who otherwise 
might hold themselves aloof from receiving individual 
advice. Many plans for such continued instruction 
have been proposed. Those which have been often 
profitably employed, are 

1. Continuing the Confirmation Class meetings, so 
192 



HELPS TO THE CONFIRMED. 193 

long as they are enjoyed; and indeed until the interest 
in them is evidently passing away. As a matter of 
policy, the interest must not be allowed to die in our 
hands. If there should seem to be a fear of it, dis- 
solve the class whilst the interest is still lively ; and 
adopt some other scheme. The meetings may be con- 
tinued afterwards in the form of a Bible Class ; or a 
devotional or charitable circle. A Pastor's objects will 
be twofold ; instruction, and the culture of devotional 
and charitable habits. He will thus become easily and 
thoroughly acquainted with his young members, and 
with their states of mind ; and they will acquire con- 
fidence in him. 

2. Annual meetings for Confirmation Classes, have 
been found beneficial. A special address is made re- 
calling past scenes and vows. An opportunity is given 
to hint at errors which may have been seen, without 
individualizing them. Perhaps an Annual Sermon 
may be preached for a Confirmation Class ; after one 
year merging the Class into others which have preceded 
it : and so addressing annually those who have dedi- 
cated themselves to God under our Pastoral care. 

3. Communing together. — Some Clergymen arrange 
that the Candidates after Confirmation shall receive 
their first Communion together, and alone. It may be 
a very happy and sacred bond, creating a special fel- 
lowship among these young servants of Christ. Dr. 
Bedell, of Philadelphia, was accustomed to use that 
opportunity for a brief address ; giving special solem- 
nity to the Sacramental Covenant, the oath of alle- 
giance, and deepening a sense of reality in the dedi- 
cation. 

i 17 



194 CONFIRMATION. 

The Confirmed, may be helped as individuals. — While 
Class instruction is to be encouraged, individual instruc- 
tion must not be neglected. It is undoubtedly the 
more effective of the two. A Pastor will watch the 
early steps of young disciples : watching not like a 
policeman, but like a compassionate father, with such 
solicitude as our heavenly Father shows, and with out- 
stretched arms of sympathy, and with paternal counsel. 
Of some he must be more careful than others. Of 
some he must be anxious, " pulling them out of the 
fire." Discrimination is to be shown. 

A true Pastor will lead his Confirmed on, one by one, 
to the Lord's Supper ; tending and guarding each until 
each has become amalgamated with the mass of the 
living Church, and is able to move on with that mass 
without further special help. Young Clergymen are 
sometimes troubled in deciding whether to admit all of 
the Confirmed to the Holy Communion without delay. 
As a general rule no hesitation need be showm, if 
proper caution has been used in admitting to Confirma- 
tion. If a doubt should arise, it is certainly better 
to take time to solve it ; and apply the test of experi- 
ence. 

A Minister may often make use of books or tracts 
suited to special needs, among these young Chris- 
tians. For example, to encourage private devotion, 
■" Hannah More's Private Devotions" is recommended. 
To help religious meditations, " Jay's Morning and 
Evening Exercises." To guide in duties, "James's 
Christian Professor," " Personal Piety." To encour- 
age piety, "The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life." 
Such books happily are supplied by the Societies 



HELPS TO THE CONFIRMED. 195 

and by the "religious Booksellers," almost without 
number.* 

It is well sometimes for a Pastor to put on paper his 
thoughts respecting a Candidate. A note or a letter 
may enable him to be more exact in statement, and to 
draw from the young Christian a more clearly defined 
expression of religious difficulty or religious experience 
than can be done by conversation. 

Above all the Pastor will busy himself in setting his 
Confirmed at work. His business is to draw out their 
energies ; to develop their talents ; to quicken their relig- 
ious affections by inducing them to labor for the spiritual 
good or temporal happiness of others. Thus he will 
introduce them practically into the fellowship of 
Christ's people ; into the Communion of Saints. 

This subject of religious activity has assumed a new 
importance in the eye of the Church since Laymen, 
and specially Christian women, have taught us its true 
methods, and shown how wide, and widely open, are 
the opportunities for it. I refer to books which ought 
to be studied, such as " Ragged homes and how to 
mend them ;" " English hearts and hands f " The 
Missing Link ;" " The City and ragged schools ;" " Haste 
to the rescue ;" and u AVomen helpers in the Church." 
The last of these w r as written by Mr. and Mrs. Welsh. 
Their labors in the City of Philadelphia, and at 
Frankford, a manufacturing town near it, have done 
more than any other cause to awaken our Church's 
attention to this subject. 

* Befer to the list of books and tracts recommended for a 
Pastor's Practical Library, in the Appendix. 



196 CONFIRM A TION. 

Mr. Welsh,* by request of the Church Conference, 
held in Toronto, Canada, in November, 1877, wrote 
as folloAvs, on this topic : 

" Before proceeding to this subject, let us briefly consider 
whether there is at this time any special need in the Church 
for increased personal service by the laity, and whether women 
are the most available and efficient helpers. 

" It is conceded that the Church is not ministering successfully 
to the great producing classes, and it is equally evident that there 
is an increasing determination on the part of ministers and 
people to benefit all sorts and conditions of men. 

" Public preaching has been intensified and popularized to the 
utmost, especially in connection with what is termed the revival 
system. On the other extreme, ornate ritual and sacramental 
rites and observances have been stretched to their utmost. Still, 
all orderly religious bodies know that the great body of the 
people, even in our large cities, are not likely to be incorporated 
as living members into the Church of Christ by any of the 
means hitherto relied on. The most intelligent and observant 
Christians have become convinced that visible religion is the 
great agency established by the Divine Founder of the Church 
for the successful preaching of the Gospel to every creature. It 
has been found that the subtle wiles of the devil, whether 
wrought through human philosophy, skepticism, or even infi- 
delity, lose their power in the presence of 'visible religion.' It 
has also been found that the Church has been neglecting the 
older Divine institution, the family ; and that through its agency 
the Church can acquire tenfold more power over the people. 

"Woman's influence in the family is everywhere acknowl- 
edged ; therefore, to reach it and to sanctify the household, 
women helpers are absolutely necessary. Communities of Sis- 
terhoods and Deaconesses are essential for women without family 
ties, or with certain characteristics that make a community life 

* Whilst these lines were being penned, the Lord called 
William Welsh, suddenly, from this life to the better; from 
active work to restful activity. t 



HELPS TO THE CONFIRMED. 197 

helpful, and there are classes of work that can only be performed 
successfully through the members of such communities. This, 
however, comprises but a small portion of the great work in- 
trusted to the Christian Church. 

11 The ordained minister, being viewed as a man specialty 
called of God to a peculiar work, cannot always reach the 
minds and hearts of those who class him with members of other 
professions. So the woman set apart to a special work, and pecu- 
liarly habited, is less successful in moulding family life than the 
wife or the mother or the daughter, who comes fresh from her 
own home, with all its cares and perplexities, to lighten the load 
of some sister overwrought or overperplexed with the cares of 
this life. Our Lord and Saviour sympathized with fallen beings 
so fully as to take upon Him their nature and their sins, but He 
asks fallen beings to go one step beyond what was possible to the 
sinless One ; and as actual penitent sinners to have perfect sym- 
pathy with other sinners, comforting and encouraging them with. 
the very comfort wherewith they themselves have been com- 
forted. Any experienced, intelligent, sympathizing Christian 
woman, whether she be wife or daughter, can become an in- 
valuable helper by carrying the hopefulness of Christianity to 
the homes of the sons of toil, both in sickness and in health. 

" From a large experience, the writer can state with confidence 
that one such devoted woman can, through sisterly visits, lift up 
and ennoble hundreds of those who are now viewed as beyond 
the reach of the Christian Church. In one parish, 700 of such 
families are systematically visited, and in another 800, by women 
constrained by Christ's love to give gratuitous service, and in 
many of these families the toil-worn house-mother has become 
hopeful, and with her husband and children is drawn Church- 
ward and Christward. It is true that years are often required 
to reach successfully those who have been long neglected, or 
Gospel hardened through the extravagant use of what are known 
as revivals in religion. Men have often watched these visitors 
and teachers for years, hoping to discover some lurking sinister 
motive on their part, and when at last convinced that the grace 
of the Lord Jesus Christ was the sole incentive, religion became 
to these skeptics and infidels a reality, so visible and powerful 
as to influence, savingly, both heart and life. The wife and 
mother who had become thoroughly disheartened because of the 

17* 



198 CONFIRMATION. 

drunkenness of the so-called head of the house, have time and 
again been so lifted up and ennobled by Christianity thus illus- 
trated and enforced, that they have refused pecuniary help when 
living on dry bread alone, saying that ' nothing gets ray man 
so soon out of a drunken spree, as the realization that his wife 
and children are almost starving.' These intelligent, sympa- 
thizing, devoted Christian visitors seem to infuse their very 
nature into many of those who were almost helpless. 

" Difficulties between husband and wife, parent and child, 
neighbor and neighbor, are readily adjusted by sisterly, sym- 
pathizing, praying visitors, who have had like experience, or 
have known of it in others. Nearly all of the devoted women, 
engaged in this work under the observation of the writer, have 
improved in bodily as well as in spiritual health and happiness, 
and in no instance have these women, working without distinctive 
dresses, been insulted in any way, by night or by day, in by- 
ways or tenement houses ; but they are always treated with the 
utmost reverence. Social distinctions are never interfered with 
by those condescending to those of low estate, although a true 
sisterly intimacy very often arises, for there is frequently real 
refinement of feeling in the lowliest cottage. The coming of 
these visitors is the joyous event of the household, and their 
presence at the Mothers' Meeting, in the Sunday-school, at the . 
adult Bible Class, and in the large worshipping assembly, changes 
the whole character of the Church. The prodigal did not return 
home because of his elder brother's propriety of conduct, but be- 
cause he knew something of the beatings of a father's heart, 
yearning after the absent one. So a long neglected people will 
never be drawn into their Father's house by the proprieties of 
elder brother Christians, but it is found through a wide experi- 
ence, that with the welcome, the cordial welcome of sympathiz- 
ing women, the lanes and alleys, with the highways and hedges, 
yield up to the Church those who were estranged from the house 
of God. When pews are rented, these women helpers have 
sometimes paid for a little cluster of seats, welcoming by their 
presence the invited guests, until such become sufficiently inter- 
ested to procure seats for themselves. This is, however, but a 
temporary expedient, and it is seldom that any but chronic pau- 
pers can become permanently united with a Church into which 
they are not cordially welcomed by the mass of worshippers. 



HELPS TO THE CONFIRMED. 199 

u In other instances, free services have been established; but 
the only means thus far ascertained for promoting a permanent 
incorporation of laboring people into the Church is the more 
cultivated Christians to welcome them and worship with them. 
Mothers' Meetings, sometimes beginning in a cottage with two 
or three women, have steadily grown until they embrace two or 
three hundred women, now meeting in the lecture-room of the 
church. Through this social beginning, these neglected women 
in most instances have become united with the great worship- 
ping assembly. When religion became visible in the conduct 
of these wives and mothers, it was comparatively easy to induce 
the husband to care for the household one evening in the week, 
then to visit the adult Bible Class, and then through its agency 
to be drawn Churchward and Christward. When the husband 
and wife thus become interested in the Church, the Sunday- 
school overflows with children, and the parish church becomes 
permanent. This great work cannot be thoroughly successful 
where there is only one long morning service, and especially 
where the Lord's Supper is celebrated at the very hour for the 
only noonday meal at which the breadwinners can be present. 
In one parish, through agencies like these, the number of com- 
municants is nearly double the number of sittings in the church, 
and yet there is room for a further increase. 

11 The following extracts from the Pastoral Letter recently 
issued by the House of Bishops, gives authority and force to these 
crude suggestions prepared as the basis for a discussion on Chris- 
tian work by women, the most important practical subject now 
before the Church : 

" ' Beligion in action has more force in this world than religion 
in theory. The life of God, if it be in a Church, will manifest 
its vital activity through the members thereof. If it flows 
through means of grace, it will flow into persons. It will show 
its power in the individual as well as by the organized parish. 
Living members will not be content with cultivating personal 
holiness, but will work for Christ by every means which the 
Church sanctions. 

ei i TffQ rejoice with you, beloved, that under the impression of 
these truths our Church has recognized the value of lay agency, 
and is rapidly systematizing it. Our pulpit fails to reach a large 
class of the community, but the Gospel can be successfully carried 



200 CONFIRMATION. 

to them — as has been proved by well tested experience — by lay 
people, through men's and women's Bible Classes, Mothers' 
Meetings, Church Guilds, "Working Men's Clubs, Industrial 
Schools, and Parish Missions. "We particularize these instru- 
mentalities, not to exhaust the enumeration, but to emphasize 
the methods. In the full work of such instrumentalities oppor- 
tunity is offered to all our lay people, both men and women, and 
all peculiarities of disposition and of taste may find occupation. 
But we caution you that this field of labor is so nearly allied to the 
responsible labor of your ministers, that it will be most success- 
fully occupied by those whose religion has become experimental, 
and whose spiritual character has been tested, developed, and well 
rounded. 

" ' In pressing these duties, we exhort you, brethren, to re- 
member your self-consecration. The breadth of your sacra- 
mental vows is the measure of your duty.' " 

As details and methods will all the while be chang- 
ing and improved, we need to be continually studying 
the latest developments. 

I suggest a few lines of work. 

Christ-work. — I mean by this, distinctively, the effort 
to bring the ignorant to a knowledge of the Saviour or 
to keep the enlightened within the range of his mercies. 

Church-work. — I mean by this, distinctively, work 
directed towards the purpose of bringing persons within 
the influences of our particular Church : and that 
whether they be religiously or irreligiously disposed ; 
unconverted, or converted. Quiet talks. Following 
upon such talks, encourage the reading of books such 
as, "Walk about Zion," or "the Stranger in search of 
the Church," or " Why am I an Episcopalian." If the 
person be much interested in the subject, add Bishop 
Garrett's " Historical Continuity of the Church ;" and 
if he should become really studious, place in his 



HELPS TO THE CONFIRMED. 201 

hands "Onderdonk on Episcopacy/' Quiet walks. 
Let these walks always lead towards the Church. 
When our companions reach the Church, the work 
of attention to their comfort begins. They should be 
made to feel at home. Attentions should never be ob- 
trusive, but always courteous. At the Church, Prayer 
Books should be handed to strangers. A few necessary 
explanations of the service may be ventured, but un- 
necessary explanations are to be carefully avoided. 
Gentle and gentlemanly adherence to these companions 
may be advisable, until their attachment to the Church 
shall have become complete, and they are no longer in 
need of our aid in that direction. 

World-work. — I mean by this, Christian work which 
is benevolent and beneficent, in which religion is made 
secondary and subsidiary ; the end is benevolence ; the 
means are religious. Such is work in Hospitals; in 
the guidance of charities ; in Mothers' Meetings ; in 
Men's Guilds ; in Co-operative associations ; in the 
establishment and guidance of Libraries and Reading 
Rooms, for those who would otherwise be deprived of 
opportunities for instruction and amusement. 

Religion should never be intruded; but its influence 
should pervade all efforts like a healthy atmosphere. 
Participants will breathe it in, and unconsciously be- 
come imbued with it. They will be brought nearer to 
the Christ, by every sentiment of rectitude and affection 
which they show towards Christians. 

This periodical labor in our Church, of preparing a 
class for Confirmation, now discussed, is a rich Pastoral 
privilege. It may be a source of unmingled happiness, 
i* 



202 CONFIRMATION. 

It will be so in proportion to our absolute fidelity to 
the Gospel, and our simple desire to glorify Christ 
when bringing the Baptized to acknowledge their 
Covenant with him. 

A Minister's most precious opportunity for reaching 
the truest sympathies of his flock, is found in this 
annual preparation for the Holy Rite of Confirmation. 



PREACHING. 



CHAPTER XII. 

ITS HISTORY AND VALUE. 

This topic comes within the lines of Pastoral The- 
ology, so far as it relates to the best methods of apply- 
ing sermons and lectures to Pastoral work. While 
Rhetoric teaches the general rules of composition, and 
Homiletics, the particular rules of composition of 
sermons, and the mode of adapting them to spiritual 
uses, Pastoral Theology treats of the definite applica- 
tion of Sermons and Lectures to particular cases, needs, 
and exigencies which may be met in Pastoral care. 

If our method of treating this latter topic should 
sometimes include both " Rhetoric" and " Homiletics," 
it will not be strange; and we trust it will not be 
deemed amiss. 

Definition. — Preaching is the authoritative declara- 
tion of truth by an Ambassador for Christ. 

It admits of all the power of oratory. But it is not 
merely ordinary teaching, with the superadded influ- 
ences arising from ministerial affirmation, and appeals 
to the reason, affections, and passions of men. For the 
prominent idea of a Divine Ambassadorship is that the 
Ambassador brings a sermon — a speech — from God. 

203 - - 



204 PREACHING. 

It is the idea of revelation. God's will is to be re- 
vealed. Something is to be told to man on the part 
of God. He has already explained it in his Word. 
But now he intends to explain or impress it further : 
and therefore he sends a man to whom he has revealed 
his will, and whom he has commissioned for the pur- 
pose. This man is to stand between God and man ; 
between, but not to separate ; only to connect the two ; 
and by revealing the divine mind, he preaches. 

Therefore, Preaching has held a high position among 
divine instruments for enlightening mankind : and has 
played an important part in sacred history. 

History. — The history of preaching exhibits two im- 
portant points, namely : 

Its significance in the divine economy ; and 

Its actual influence and power in sacred and secular 
history. 

The significance ivhich belongs to preaching in the 
Divine economy. 

Preachers in the true sense, those who give authori- 
tative declarations of truth as Ambassadors from God, 
are scattered along the whole course of sacred history, 
even from the remotest ages of the Church. In olden 
days they employed not merely poetic skill of prophecy, 
but oratorical forms, such as now distinguish the pulpit. 
Before the Flood, Enoch was a Preacher of righteous- 
ness ; so noted, so eloquent, so much impressing him- 
self upon his age, that his name stands out from among 
the worthies who are perpetuated by the brief traditions 
of the antediluvian era. Noah was a preacher of right- 
eousness. Standing on the edge of time to the world 
before the flood, we can well imagine that his sermons 



HISTORY OF PREACHING. 205 

were full of power from his visions by faith of judg- 
ments to come. After him the Patriarchs, exercising 
their office in their family circles, kept alive the knowl- 
edge of God, by verbal communications which had the 
essence of preaching. "We get a glimpse of it from 
Abraham's custom ; " I know that he will command 
his household after him." Such a household could 
not well come under the instruction of a single voice, 
unless the Patriarch revealed divine truth to them 
whilst, standing beside his morning or evening sacrifice, 
he preached to his family audience gathered around the 
altar. In later days, in the times of the Church in 
the wilderness, we have a record of sermons by the 
Preacher, Moses. It seems probable that the seventy 
elders were appointed with special reference to this 
duty of announcing God's revealed will authorita- 
tively; for they prophesied.* When Joshua, fearing 
that they would encroach on Moses' prerogative, said, 
" My lord Moses, forbid them f 3 the meek man replied, 
" Enviest thou for my sake ? Would God that all the 
Lord's people were prophets." He would seem to have 
used that term as signifying, those who make known 
divine revealed will, under the influence of the Spirit. 
Such an expression may well stand for a definition of 
preaching. Joshua was a preacher. You will find 
two of his sermons recorded in the 23d and 24th 
chapters of the Book which bears his name : so weighty 
and eloquent were they, that they fastened themselves 
on the minds of hearers and were perpetuated by 
tradition, until long after they had been written down 

* Vide, Meade. 
18 



206 PREACHING. 

by the Scribe. Samuel was both Preacher and Prophet. 
David " preached righteousness in the great congre- 
gation." Hengstenburg thinks that David was the 
author of the Psalm* in which this passage occurs : 
and that he applies it to himself. But even if the 
Psalm be Messiamic, there was a foundation for the 
figure which the Prophet uses; showing that preaching 
in the great congregation was then a custom well 
understood. We are familiar with the words of " the 
Preacher, the son of David." Elijah was Preacher 
and Prophet. Jonah was sent to preach to Nineveh 
whilst he prophesied. Schools of the prophets were 
evidently repositories for public teachers, and places for 
educating them. 

After the Captivity, the ordinance took a more posi- 
tive and historical shape, and appeared as it is in the 
present day. Then the pulpit of wood was erected ; 
and the Preacher gave both expositions of the divine 
word, and exhortations to arouse the people to action. 

It was a well-known ordinance of the Synagogue, at 
the opening of the Gospel dispensation. 

John the Baptist's great influence was exhibited in 
preaching. Our Saviour followed him, gaining his 
power over the people as much by preaching as by 
miracles. "Never man spake like this man." His 
sermon on the Mount was a grand introduction of his 
mission to the masses of Judea. Afterwards he applied 
to himself the prophet's words, " The Lord hath 
anointed me to preach." His injunctions, which gave 
the key-note for the harmonious duties of the Chris- 

* Ps. xl. 9. 



HISTORY. 207 

tian ministry were, " Go ye and preach the Gospel to 
every creature." 

Apostles " ceased not to preach Christ Jesus." Their 
practice is recognized, when the false teachers say, " I 
adjure thee by Jesus whom Paul preacheth." Their 
injunction to Ministers, like Christ's to them, is, " preach 
the word, be instant in season, out of season." 

In the Primitive Church, the same practice was fol- 
lowed. Homilies, or popular discourses, were delivered 
by ancient fathers twice, often three times on Sunday. 
In the second century preaching still maintained its 
simplicity and integrity ; and only in the time of 
Origen began to decline, as errors began to multiply in 
the Church. 

When the Romish system began to be developed, 
and it became necessary for its success that the word of 
God should be hidden, preaching necessarily became 
extinct. Homilies on the lives of Saints were in vogue ; 
they did not fill the measure of true preaching. A 
similar, but more gradual obliteration of true preach- 
ing, indicated and accompanied a gradual decay of 
divine truth in the Greek and other Oriental Churches. 
Many of the monks during the middle ages were emi- 
nent in preaching, and used this instrument effectively 
to impress their tenets. Saint Bernard, of Clairvaux,* 
used it in his contests against Abelard and other error- 
ists. Peter the Hermit employed it in instigating the 
earlier, and Saint Bernard the last of the Crusades. 

But true preaching revived at the Reformation. 
Nay, rather we should say, preaching led to the Refor- 

* 1091-1153. 



20<S PREACHING. 

mation. It was not only a sign of the revival of truth, 
but the means of that revival. 

Luther, trumpet-tongued, shook the Continent : and 
from his example preaching resumed its divinely ap- 
pointed place within all orthodox Churches. 

The actual influence of preaching in sacred and secular 

history. 

From the history of its effects we infer God's inten- 
tion in appointing it. 

The account given by Saint Jude of what is termed 
Enoch's prophesying, seems little else than the descrip- 
tion of a sermon on the evils of his day. Although not 
the first to gather God's people into a Church : yet if 
we may suppose that he was named after and lived in 
the City which Cain had founded, then in his own City, 
Enoch endeavored to stem the torrent of wickedness 
which was hurrying the world toward a flood, and to 
prepare the Church of God to endure judgments, by 
enlivening its faith in the covenanted " Seed of the 
woman." It is a significant fact, that the only preachers 
of that age were found in the direct line of Christ's 
Ancestry ; consequently we infer that the purpose of 
their preaching was mainly evangelical. They kept 
alive the faith of a people, who whilst living in the 
midst of general ungodliness, were waiting for Messiah. 
The Patriarchs preserved truth in their day by religious 
instructions. Whilst Moses and his Elders, and Joshua 
and his Elders, lived, the Church was comparatively 
pure ; and even to the death of the Elders which over- 
lived Joshua, the Church of Israel was kept from ruin 
by their personal influence. We judge that this effect 



his tou r. 209 

was largely the result of preaching. For Joshua's ser- 
mon under the oak at Shechem is a fair illustration of 
the mode by which divine truth came in contact with 
the public mind of that day. Its result was a reforma- 
tion. Two other striking illustrations of the same truth 
are given, in Samuel's sermon at Gilgal, and Elijah's 
on Mount Carmel. 

After the captivity a revival of preaching seemed to 
follow very naturally on the finding of the law. 
Preaching was certainly the means of re-awakening 
true religion among the Jews, between the times of 
Ezra and Christ. 

The preaching of John the Baptist prepared Christ's 
way, by enlisting the attention of the masses to a com- 
ing Messiah. The effect of the Saviour's preaching 
was immediately obvious on the public mind of that 
day. Although, as the Holy Ghost had not yet come, 
his sermons seem seldom to have led men to a true faith 
in Messiah, and not at all to a spiritual awakening of 
the masses, yet their power was felt in convincing men 
of sin, and in calling all eyes to the coming, crowning 
facts of his redeeming work. 

But after the Holy Ghost was given, preaching began 
to develop all its intended power. There were sermons 
at Pentecost which shook Jerusalem as by an earth- 
quake. St. Paul at Philippi, by preaching opened a 
door, bound faster than was the gate of his prison, 
even the jailer's heart. At Iconium, at Ephesus, at 
Rome, there was a shaking among dry bones of 
thought, and resurrections in the valleys of dead men, 
"dead in trespasses and sins," whilst Apostles were 
preaching " Christ and him crucified." And no other 

18* 



210 PREACHING. 

instrument than this, converted the world of those 
days. 

The decadence of preaching led to the decadence of 
truth, the eclipse of faith, and almost the destruction 
of the Church. The revival of preaching produced the 
revival of truth, and the resurrection of the Church's 
life. 

The right estimate of preaching. 

Such being the effects of preaching in the ages all 
along, we are not surprised at the stress laid upon it by 
Christ, and by the Apostles under the guidance of the 
Holy Ghost. 

The Gospel Estimate. — Already fitted for the part it 
was to play in the new dispensation, Christ adopted it 
as the one great instrument by which his Gospel should 
be propagated, and by which that Gospel should pro- 
duce its regenerating effects upon Society. " Go ye into 
the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." 
Such is the appointment which specified it and made it 
imperative on us. Apostles echoed their Lord's in- 
structions. " Necessity is laid upon me : yea, woe is 
unto me if I preach not the Gospel."* " Whereof I 
am made a Minister ... to fulfil the word of God, 
— i.e. (marginal reading) fully to preach the word of 
God."f " Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach 
the Gospel."J " The foolishness of preaching" is ap- 
pointed in order " to save them that believe."§ " God 
hath in due times manifested his word through preach- 
ing." || This, the divine estimate of preaching, leads 

* 1 Cor. ix. 16. f Col. i. 25. 

% 1 Cor. i. 17. I 1 Cor. i. 21. 

II Titus i. 2. 3. 



RIGHT ESTIMATE. 211 

our judgment in describing it as an instrument of the 
Gospel. 

A Means of Grace. — It is the one divinely appointed 
means for declaring " the glad tidings." 

In the first place, it is admirably fitted for the pur- 
pose. It carries truth to the heart. In order to move 
the heart, sympathies must be touched. And sympa- 
thies are excited mainly by the human voice. The ear 
is the avenue to the soul. The heart cannot be as 
quickly or surely approached by the eye as by the ear. 
The voice has a mysterious influence in touching the 
deepest cords of sympathy ; and setting them vibrating 
to the note which the speaker utters. 

The late Dr. Howe, of Boston, celebrated as the 
teacher of Laura Bridgman, who was born deaf, .dumb, 
and blind, first called my attention to this peculiar 
influence, exerted by the human voice over the emo- 
tions and affections, and through them over the will- 
He compared the cheerfulness and happiness of blind 
persons and of deaf-mutes. The comparison is made 
between those who are living alone, not those living in 
communities. 

The deaf can read. All that can be gained from 
books is open to them. But amidst all the libraries 
that may be gathered round them, they remain isolated 
from human hearts ; and one sees the misery on every 
line of countenance, and catches the querulous tone of 
it in every sound they utter or sign they make. 

But the blind, although shut in from nature, and 
shut out from books, yet get close to human hearts. 
In every word which is spoken to them they receive 
a revelation from a human soul, and in replying, 



212 PREACHING. 

they strengthen their sympathies whilst uttering them. 
Therefore smiles lighten their darkness, and songs tell 
out the joys of their souls. 

It is to be observed how closely human hearts ap- 
proach each other when experiences are exchanged by 
telling of them. There is such a power in Gough's 
description of his sad experience of temptation, that it 
has broken up the power of intemperance in many an- 
other. Is it imaginable that such an effect could be 
produced without words ? Admirable pantomimist as 
he is, what power would Gough have were he shut up 
to pantomime? No ! Truth reaches the heart chiefly, 
almost solely, by the voice. And therefore Christ 
chose preaching as the instrument of spreading his 
Gospel. 

All other means are inferior. The Sacraments are 
teachers of truth. They have a certain place as 
teachers, and a definite power. But their influence 
extends no further than to confirm and preserve truth 
which is already proclaimed and known. What effect 
could they produce, as original preachers ? What do 
they say, what does even the Cross say, to those who 
have never heard the announcement of a Saviour's 
love ? To such persons the Sacraments are impressive, 
scenic, but silent. So services and Ordinances become 
teachers to those only who have already been taught. 
Even one's private reading of Scripture cannot ordi- 
narily move the soul as the preaching of a sermon 
may,, provided it utter Scriptural truth which has been 
felt and comes from a heart that has tried it, to a heart 
that feels the need of it. 

Thus, through all the Christian ages, one beholds 



RIGHT ESTIMATE. 213 

the efficient power of the pulpit. Peter the Hermit, 
by his preaching, sent crowds of enthusiastic men to 
captivity and death, for the rescue of a Saviour's tomb. 
Luther preaching, waked a dead Church, and brought 
it out of its sepulchre; itself startled at its new life, 
and stumbling among the graves. Francis Xavier, by 
his preaching, planted the seeds of the Gospel among 
heathen nations of the far East so successfully, that 
our Missionaries to this day are still reaping the fruits 
of them. Bossuet by his sermons led that insurrection 
against the extreme doctrines of the Papacy, which to 
this day characterizes Romanism in France. Whitefield 
roused the Church of England from its lethargy, when 
secularism and state policy, and human sin, had fast- 
ened almost a death grasp upon it. And Wesley 
kindled a new flame of love to Christ upon its altars. 
Summerfield, Spurgeon, Liddon, and the Bishop of 
Peterborough; in our own country, Johns, Bedell, 
Tyng, Mcllvaine, Moody, John Hall, and Phillips 
Brooks ; how their sermons have stirred the commu- 
nities within which they moved ; how they have stirred 
the life of religion that was beating with slow pulses in 
the heart of a cold Church ! 

Romanists, at last, have felt this truth. Their prac- 
tice under it reads a forcible lesson to us. Their power 
over the masses outside of their Church was dying out, 
because men were ceasing to be attracted by their cere- 
monials, and could be no longer deluded by mere mum- 
mery. So they sent forth preachers; repeating an 
experiment frequently made during the course of their 
chequered history. Their "Missions" now draw thou- 
sands into the net, who would have escaped every other 



214 PREACHING. 

snare, but cannot escape the siren power of the human 
voice. 

Hooker says, "So worthy a part of divine service 
we should greatly wrong if we did not regard preach- 
ing as the ordinance of God. Sermons are as keys 
to the Kingdom of Heaven; as wings to the Soul; 
as spurs to the good affections of men ; unto the 
sound and healthy as food; as physic unto diseased 
minds." 

There is another view of the Ordinance of preaching. 
For not only is it the chief means of communicating 
the Gospel : but it is the only means, properly so called. 
For the Gospel is simply a message of salvation. It is 
not that which saves, but tidings concerning that which 
saves. If the Gospel were salvation, then Ministers 
who are " put in trust" of it, as the Apostle says, might 
possibly communicate it by some sacrament or out- 
ward sign. But, on the contrary, the Gospel is merely 
the announcement of salvation : nothing but news, 
glad tidings. Consequently a Minister of the Gospel 
has nothing to do but to declare the news — glad tidings. 
He can do it in no other way than by speech. 

Still further. This saying of God, this promise of 
mercy through Jesus Christ, is proposed for human 
belief. Now the heart cannot lay hold of a promise, 
except by faith. We cannot see or touch a promise. 
We deal with it only by believing or disbelieving. 
Consequently the assertion that we are justified by faith 
alone, is not only no mystery, but is a necessity of the 
case. 

As the only possible mode of enjoying the blessing 
of Christ's religion is believing his word of mercy, so 



RIGHT ESTIMATE. 215 

the only possible method of communicating that word 
of mercy is by the human voice, by preaching.* 

A Safeguard of truth. — But preaching has other 
uses, divinely intended as we believe, to be part of the 
purpose with which Christ appointed this main Ordi- 
nance of his Gospel. It is the safeguard of truth. 
Truth however clearly proclaimed in, and however fully 
accepted by, a community or Church, will not maintain 
itself. It needs to be continually preached, enforced, 
explained, and confirmed. The pulpit is the great 
means, under the Holy Spirit's influence, of perpetually 
reaffirming truth ; of revealing error ; and of discuss- 
ing and correcting falsehoods. 

Its uses to society. — Still further — although on this 
wide-spreading and important theme we must not fur- 
ther dilate — preaching has abundant uses for the com- 
munity, wherein it is practised. 

It is intimately related to education : indeed is a part 
of that process in every intelligent community. It en- 
larges and cultivates the mind of a people by familiar- 
izing them with great thoughts, and increasing their 
powers of thinking on the deepest and grandest themes 
which can enter the soul. 

It is intimately related to the moral tone of a commu- 
nity. Its themes are a continual instruction in the prin- 
ciples of true righteousness towards God, and in neigh- 
borly justice : and a pulpit true to itself, carries these 
topics down to particular exhibitions of all right practice 
between man and man. A healthful moral tone is there- 
fore produced under the instructions of a healthy pulpit. 

* Bedell, Trusteeship of the Gospel, p. 16. 



216 PREACHING. 

It is intimately related to the good order of the com- 
munity. A sound pulpit becomes a good police : it 
stands behind and gives power to all municipal law. 

And lastly, the Pulpit is the safeguard of the State. 
For the Church preaches the Gospel ; the end of the 
Gospel is obedience, and on obedience stands the State, 
and therefore the Church is the conservator of Govern- 
ment. Family discipline may be lax, parental authority 
may be disused, the schools may teach everything ex- 
cept submission, but the Church cannot depart from or 
fail in this its office, so long as its Prayer Book and its 
pulpit preach the Gospel, for the end of the Gospel is 
obedience. Christ came because law had been violated. 
Christ left the bosom of the Father because a word of 
that Father had been set at defiance. Christ took this 
poor human nature into union with His person because 
a world was in rebellion, and no other Being in the 
universe could bear the awful sin of rebels. Christ 
poured out his blood upon the Cross because sin, dis- 
obedience to law, disregard of rightful authority, is a 
stain so deep in the economy of God that no other foun- 
tain could wash it white. Even after Gethsemane, and 
Calvary, and the Tomb, and after the Easter; when 
Atonement was finished, Reconciliation complete, the 
body ransomed, the whole manhood saved ; yet, after 
all these, such was the inwrought iniquity of sin, the 
corruption that had eaten down among the pow r ers of 
the soul, and into every one of them, that even the 
saved manhood could not save itself by so small an 
act as repentance, or so trifling an effort as belief. 
It was necessary, therefore, in the scheme of salvation 
that our ascended Christ should send down the Holy 



RIGHT ESTIMATE. 217 

Ghost to save men. That mighty God, the Holy Ghost, 
helps the impotent sinner into the saving flood, shows 
the Saviour to be so able and salvation so precious, 
makes the Gospel so irresistibly attractive, that the lost 
soul leaps to this Saviour, and clings to Him, and is 
saved by Him. But the purpose of salvation is not all 
accomplished, even when one has believed and is for- 
given. Christ died not merely that the lawless might 
be pardoned. The Holy Spirit came not merely that 
pardoned law-breakers might be reconciled to God. 
The end of this great salvation wrought out by the 
Son and wrought in by the Spirit, is that the soul, 
when pardoned and reconciled, may be rebellious no 
longer, but may become a submissive and obedient 
child. The end of the Gospel is obedience. Christ 
came that He might "purify unto Himself a peculiar 
people zealous of good works." And "the fruit of the 
Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, 
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." To accom- 
plish this, all teachings of the Bible tend — all the 
provisions of God toward His children, and all the 
dealings of Divine grace, direct themselves. So also 
ordinances of religion, the holy Sacraments, and the 
whole tone of the Church, agree in this purpose of the 
Gospel. 

The object is to reconcile lawless men to their lawful 
Sovereign, to root out the principle of disloyalty, to 
inculcate submission and reverence to authority, and to 
insist upon the practice of obedience, instantaneous, un- 
questioning, complete and willing obedience. ^Now these 
principles lie at the foundation of order in the State, 
and the only power within the community which can 
k 19 



218 PREACHING. 

be depended upon, to inculcate these principles at all 
times, under all changes, at all hazards, is the Church. 
Courts may enforce them ; but penalty can never exert 
the influence of precept. Public schools might teach 
them, but it would be as science — principles that lie 
only on the surface of the mind. Schools have no 
means of settling those principles into the heart. School 
training, although largely depended on by our legisla- 
tors to form good citizens — school training naturally, 
and apart from religion necessarily, produces self-de- 
pendence, and self-dependence is the very spirit of law- 
lessness and license. No teacher in the community 
always, and under all circumstances alike, preaches 
loyalty, submission, reverence and obedience, except the 
Church. Our Church must preach it; for it is the 
Gospel. It is heard in every service, it is the tone of 
all her habits of worship; it must lie upon the tongues 
of her ministry, if they are true to Christ. And these 
principles come to us in the Church, not as abstractions, , 
but for immediate practice; not as cold dictates of 
reason, but as warm impulses of religion ; not as the 
policy of government, but as the wish, which is law, 
of a loving Saviour. 

Therefore the Church is the conservator of the State. 
Independent of the State, belonging to another citizen- 
ship, using all earthly governments with equal freedom, 
it repays the State amply for its protection by the good 
order and submission which it inculcates, and which it 
leads by powerful example. The Church is worth, to 
a community, all that they expend upon it, or its min- 
ister, in giving influence and effect to its teachings — 
for the Church preaches the Gospel, and the end of 



DANGER OF DEPRECIATING. 219 

the Gospel is obedience, and on obedience stands the 
State.* 

All these are parts of the grand purpose of God in 
appointing the ordinance of preaching. It has been 
wisely said that " the Pulpit, whether we view it with 
the eye of a legislator, watching for the welfare of the 
State ; of the learned, jealous for public science and 
taste ; of moral philosophers anxious for the virtue of 
the community, or of the devout Christian weighing 
everything in the balance of eternity — the Pulpit must 
in every light appear an object of vast importance." 

The Danger of depreciating Preaching. 

Singularly enough, the influence of the pulpit is 
endangered, even in an age which professes to hold it 
in high esteem. 

The first danger arises 

From the activity of the age ; from the demand for 
practical ability, as it is called ; and the demand for 
excessive pastoral labors. 

The Pastor is now expected to take the lead in all 
schemes of benevolence and social progress, as well as 
in labors from house to house. Some people regarding 
such efforts as of supreme value foolishly depreciate 
the pulpit. And some Ministers seem to think that 
these practical labors will excuse in them a want of 
care and preparation for the pulpit. Blunt well re- 
marks, " a sound theology must not disappear in the 
Cottage Visitor." If a man finds himself in danger 

* See Bishop Bedell's Sermon before the Church Congress, 
New York, 1877. 



220 PREACHING. 

of neglecting his pulpit, he ought to diminish his 
attention to those duties, and place the leading direction 
of them in the hands of others. 

From the Spirit of Formalism. — A second danger 
arises from a complication of causes, which, from its 
most salient type, we call Formalism. But it is diffi- 
cult to group those many exaggerations of truths out 
of which the Romish Church and its vitiated system 
originated ; and out of which, subsequently to the 
Reformation, and in our own days, have grown so 
many errors. 

An analysis and characterization of these causes 
belongs to another department of theological study. 
We are only to note, that one of its chief developments 
has been a depreciation of preaching, and an exaltation 
of the Ordinances, and especially of the Sacraments, as 
the proper instruments for communicating Christ to 
the Soul : an " opus operatum" communication not of 
the knowledge of Christ, but of Christ to the soul. 
Bishop Mcllvaine's work entitled " The Righteousness 
of Christ," is recommended as a complete investiga- 
tion of the error referred to, and an exposition of its 
remedy. 

The evil shows itself in using prayers, fastings, ser- 
vices, Baptisms, and the Lord's Supper, as means of 
mysteriously conveying to human souls the principle 
of spiritual life in Christ Jesus, or of keeping it alive 
in them, apart and distinct from the use of these 
means, for developing the graces and emotions which 
are thereby exercised. They are legitimately employed 
as means of deepening humility and penitence, and 
quickening faith, love, hope, joy, and the like: and 



DANGER OF DEPRECIATING. 221 

were intended by our Divine Lord to be so employed. 
But that they act on the soul apart from their influence 
on graces and emotions — or, otherwise, act like a charm 
— is absurd as well as false. Those who hold such 
views evidence their sincerity by depreciating preach- 
ing : for preaching cannot act mechanically, but always 
acts by moral power. 

As a distinct protest against any system, which exalts 
the other Ordinances of religion, at the expense of the 
Ordinance of preaching, let us form to ourselves, and 
urge upon others, a right estimate of it: not esteem- 
ing it to the depreciation of any divinely authorized 
means of grace, but holding it in rightful association 
with them. 

From Secularization. — A third danger arises from 
the secularization of the age. The pulpit is depre- 
ciated, because preachers depreciate its themes. The 
worldliness of the age is creeping into the pulpit. Men 
who love popularity, and court it, pander to this depre- 
ciated sentiment, by intruding into the pulpit themes 
apart from the Gospel ; themes which hit the fancy, or 
amuse the trifling thoughts, of a worldly age. Even 
men who know the Gospel, men who could exercise a 
tremendous power as Evangelists if they would use 
the Gospel wholly, departing from simple utterances 
of God's word, often indulge in what are termed pop- 
ular discourses. In the eyes of all right-minded men 
the pulpit is thereby depreciated. Even an ungodly 
world does not hesitate to criticise the fault, whilst it 
takes advantage of it to shelter itself, under the shadow 
of a so-called Christian pulpit, from the wholesome 
influences of the Gospel. 

19* 



222 PREACHING. 

It is important, therefore, that our right estimate of 
preaching and of its value should be strengthened. 

Approaching the responsibility which is imposed on 
preachers ; we are to recognize the worth of this in- 
strument for moving men's minds, moulding society, 
fashioning lives, and controlling consciences. 

First, we must feel that it is a power ; such as has 
been described. 

If a laxity of view in this respect exists among us, 
it is largely due to opinions expressed by the Clergy. 
It is perhaps natural for those to depreciate this ordi- 
nance of God, who are incapable of preaching, or too 
indolent to put forth sufficient exertions. But it is not 
reasonable, nor is it to be expected, that educated men 
and men of real power — men who are capable of 
moving their fellows by the gifts of oratory — should 
take a low view of this divine ordinance. 

Other professions have a much higher estimate of 
those means for usefulness which Divine Providence 
has committed to them. As a general rule I believe 
they labor more hopefully, if not more earnestly, than 
the Clergy. Even some other churches surpass our 
own in the use which their Ministers make of preach- 
ing, and their dependence on it as a power. We need 
to take truer views of this marvellous instrument. We 
must stir up our gifts, and ourselves. 

A sermon is not an end, but a means. A mechanician 
works at his machine not to get it done, but to get it to 
work, and to work out its object. A Lawyer forms his 
plea, not in order to fill so many sheets of paper, but 
to win his case. A Physician labors at his diagnosis, 
not to fill up the moments of his visit, but to cure his 



DANGER OF DEPRECIATING. 223 

patient. So a Minister should go to his study for the 
preparation of his sermon, not to finish the thing, but 
to produce something that will work ; something that 
will accomplish what he wants it to do. If it will not 
answer, let him try it again. No efforts can be wasted, 
no experiments shall have been in vain, no hours will 
fail to render a good account of themselves, which pro- 
duce at last a sermon that will make men think, will 
rouse consciences, will move affections and the Will. 

Phillips Brooks says, " The sermons of Christ and 
His apostles were valuable solely for the work they 
could accomplish. They were tools, and not works of 
art/'* 

A true Pastor will labor over his sermons. He will 
concentrate thought, and study on them. He will shape 
his reading for them. He will consecrate to them 
observation, meditation, and reflection. Although he 
may be capable of dashing off a sufficiency of thoughts 
from a fertile brain, or of pouring out a redundancy 
of words from a facility in language, more than enough 
to satisfy his people or to full-fill his hour, a conscien- 
tious Pastor w r ill not deem that to be a sermon, unless it 
shall have cost him labor, and unless it shall produce 
the intended result, the moving of souls and the glory 
of God. Let us beware of preparing sermons, merely 
to get them done. 

Theological Students are especially exposed to the 
danger of forming this evil habit, under the pressure 
of their Seminary duties. Sermons written for criticism 
appear to many to have little other purpose. But they 

* Phillips Brooks, Preaching, p. 115. 



224 PREACHING. 

should be written to move souls for whom Christ died. 
The audience for whom they are intended is beyond 
the recitation room. A student will rise above the 
critical circle which meets him there. Even if written 
only for criticism, a sermon should be so perfect in all 
its details, as to be beyond the critic's touch. A ser- 
mon is a means, not an end. Our purpose should be 
not to make an oration, nor to please merely one's 
taste or ear, but to produce a sermon — Sermo — a speech 
that will accomplish the ends of Gospel preaching. 

In this regard, we should endeavor, not to seem, but 
to be, superior to every man in our community, in all 
that belongs to a right sermon ; suitable information, 
power to employ it, ability of thought, and facility in 
expressing it. For such an end a Minister must needs 
work. And if we attain the end, it will be worth all 
that it has cost. Preaching ought to be esteemed. It 
will be our* own fault if it is not. I do not say that 
the pulpit should be popular; but it ought to be 

ESTEEMED. 



PREACHING. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

ITS OBJECT AND METHOD. 

We consider the subject of Preaching under two 
aspects : 

Spiritually; as to its object, method, subject, and 
power, and 

Mechanically ; as to its matter, style, manner, species, 
characteristics, texts, and the methods of preparation. 

To attain an end, it is of the first importance that we 
see it clearly. The specific, clearly defined, object of a 
sermon, is the same as the one object of our Ministry, 
and the single object of our Saviour's mission, to save 
men. We have no other raison d'etre, no other pur- 
pose for representing ourselves as Ambassadors of 
Christ. We have no object aside from this. As liter- 
ary men, philanthropists, leaders of society and formers 
of public opinion, we may be called upon to do many 
other things which are only related to this end. But 
as Ministers w T e have this one object only — to save men. 
Consequently our preaching must keep this object clearly 
in view ; and whatever is not part of this object, and 
does not lead to it, or is not legitimately a portion of 
this design, does not belong to a sermon, and is not 
preaching. By this test we may try the character )f 
our preaching. We shall recur to this point. Bui at 
k* 225 



226 PREACHING. 

present, let us keep distinctly in mind, that the object 
of preaching is to save souls. 

If all men whom we address were in the same re- 
ligious condition, our methods would be greatly simpli- 
fied. A principle of unity does indeed pervade them 
all ; for all are sinners, redeemed by Christ, and to all 
salvation is possible and to be offered. But many 
hearers having already listened to the Gospel, are being 
saved. Consequently every religious audience consists 
of two classes ; that is to say, of 

Unrepenting sinners, who are to be converted ; and of 

Repenting and believing sinners who are to be sancti- 
fied. 

Each person in these classes is probably in a state of 
mind differing from that of every other; and we meet 
them in differing degrees of religious progress. Oar 
preaching must be suited as far as possible to each, and 
to them all : and thus the work of the Ministry becomes 
very complicated and difficult. We shall subsequently 
examine some of these sub-divisions. But at present, 
for determining the great object of preaching, and the 
methods to be used, it will suffice to regard our hearers 
under those two main divisions, and to examine the 
purpose in each case ; namely, to convert the one, and to 
sanctify the other. 

Let it be observed that these distinctions do not divide 
the object of preaching. We have not two objects; 
only one. The purpose of preaching " conversion" 
is to lead to sanctification. The purpose of preaching 
" sanctification" is to lead to salvation. To preach only 
to the unconverted, and to cease preaching when those 
souls were converted, would be to deliver as insufficient 



METHOD OF PREACHING. 227 

a Gospel, as if one were to commence all preaching 
with announcing the doctrines of sanctification : whilst 
to preach only to Christians, and thus to leave uncon- 
verted men to grope their way in ignorance towards the 
Cross, would be as great an injustice to them, as it 
would be not to exhibit to believers every one of the 
blessed steps which lie between the world and heaven ; 
those steps of the way of life which are a gradual pro- 
gress from a death unto sin, and resurrection unto right- 
eousness, through a risen life with Christ, until the day 
of our Ascension and of glory. It is one object ; but 
there are two degrees in accomplishing it. 

Method. — A true Analysis will show the method to 
be employed. 

Our purpose is to produce healthful religious action 
in the soul : in other words, to move the will. The 
man is to be induced to one or the other of several 
acts ; either repentance, or faith, or loving obedience to 
Christ, as the case may be. Consequently he is to be 
led to desire these; and that desire can be awakened 
only if we can enkindle his affections. We persuade 
him to spiritual acts by presenting and urging sufficient 
motives. 

We are to move his will. 

But we shall not accomplish it until his conscience 
is awakened to realize the need. Nor can conscience 
be effectually aroused until Judgment, which sits as 
door-keeper at the avenues to our moral sense, has been 
convinced. This double process, partly intellectual, 
partly moral, the conviction of judgment and the 
awakening of conscience, describes that spiritual action 
which we name conviction. 



228 



PREACHING. 



In order, therefore, to produce persuasion, it must be 
preceded by conviction. 

A true conviction is the work of the Holy Ghost. 

But at present we are speaking only of human pro- 
cesses ; the means which when blessed by Him become 
effectual. Our purpose then as preachers is to produce 
conviction. 

Both conviction and persuasion are based on instruc- 
tion. There must be knowledge of truth before there 
can be conviction of truth, or a persuasion which will 
induce one to act under the influence of truth. Con- 
sequently our sermons should instruct the mind. We 
lay this foundation for all the spiritual processes which 
are to follow. We are to give sufficiently full and clear 
information as to divine truth ; so full, that there will 
be basis enough for all our arguments to convince the 
judgment, for all our appeals to awaken the conscience, 
and for all our motives to influence the will. 

Now from this analysis, by reversing the process, we 
obtain synthetically a clear scheme of method as a gen- 
eral guide for the structure of sermons, in both parts of 
the one effort to save souls. 



Instruction 


to inform 


the mind 




to 








prepare 
for 


r to convince 


the judgment 


In every case 


Conviction 






in order to 


to 


v to awaken 


the conscience 




prepare 
the way for 
Persuasion 


r to lead to 

-J desire through 

v the affections 


1 to move 
J the Will 


produce 
Action. 



This scheme presents to the eye what I desire to im- 



METHOD OF PREACHING. 229 

press as the distinct thing which preaching is to do — 
not merely to aim at, but to do. 

As an illustration ; we are cognizant of a case, in 
which a person who being under deep religious con- 
victions, but following wrong advice, has gone to the 
Lord's Table, instead of going first by penitent faith 
to the Lord, in order to obtain peace. The case is not . 
fictitious. 

The primary need is instruction ; for such an act 
could result only from singular ignorance or misconcep- 
tion. Our special instruction, therefore, must cover all 
the main points which have been misconstrued ; namely, 
as to the nature of new birth, the character of those 
who belong to the new kingdom, and the purpose of 
the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 

Next, our instruction must prepare a way for argu- 
ments, which may convince the hearer's judgment, that 
he was mistaken as to his spiritual condition, his spirit- 
ual need, and the true means of relief. Once being 
convinced that he needs conversion, not pacification of 
conscience; forgiveness of sin, not the appearance of 
peace, our way will be prepared for aw T akening his 
conscience to a sense of a deeper guilt in having trifled 
with the Lord's Sacrament : and then his ignorance or 
misconception will appear to be sin. 

Xext, our whole powers of persuasion are to be 
brought to bear to lead him to desire true conversion. 
If he be not only aroused and uneasy in sin, but thor- 
oughly awakened to the evil of it, he will be desirous 
of exercising true repentance. Then our representa- 
tions of the love of Christ, as manifested by his suffer- 
ings for us on the Cross, will have true power, for they 

20 



230 PREACHING. 

will address themselves to a soul already feeling its 
need of, and longing to realize the meaning of, the 
Gospel revelations of the Saviour. Desire for true 
faith in Christ will have been awakened ; and that is 
the next thing to action : and action, which in this case 
is the exercise of faith, w 7 ill follow. 

Thus your hearer is brought, and by means of his 
individual case you have brought other hearers, to the 
point of " laying hold of the hope set before us," in 
the Gospel in Christ Jesus. 

If in such a sermon we wish to proceed from this 
point to the higher duties and privileges of a Christian 
life, the same scheme of method will give a key to the 
proper course. 

The person who has been brought back from a hope- 
less use of Sacraments, and from a sinful substitution 
of the symbols of life in Christ Jesus for the life itself, 
will be liable to a reaction. Probably such a person 
w r ill be loath to accept the Sacrament again. Conse- 
quently, instruction, conviction, persuasion must again 
be brought to bear. By a proper view of the privileges 
and blessings of Sacraments, a hearer who possesses the 
graces which they are intended to strengthen, is led to 
desire them aright as means and pledges of grace ; and 
to look through them, and beyond them, to the Christ- 
life which they symbolize. So he is to be persuaded 
to struggle after * a full apprehension of the holy joys 
of being fully covenanted with Christ, being one with 
Christ, being made like to Christ, and walking day by 
day in the footsteps of Christ. 

* Agonize, run in the race for, as in 1 Cor. ix. 24, 25. 



METHOD OF PREACHING. 231 

The reversal of this process is illogical, irrational, 
and must fail. It is building a pyramid on its apex. 
Appeals to the passions, and exhortations to action, 
before the conscience is awakened or the judgment con- 
vinced, may lead to spasmodic spiritual effort, and 
temporary emotion. But it can produce no lasting 
effect. That sort of religious feeling and apparent 
religious action which is produced thereby, ceases with 
the peculiar excitements which gave it birth. 

Our method is that which the Holy Spirit himself 
dictates. For " faith cometh by hearing, and hearing 
by the word of God." First the word; then its en- 
trance into the mind, and laying hold upon the con- 
science; then its movement upon the affectionate nature; 
and so the soul is induced to confide in the Word : and 
this is faith. " 

With respect to this method, I make some ex- 
planations. 

Instruction is a declaration of truth : an authoritative 
declaration, yet not always with appearance of authority. 
Here the Minister appears as teacher. He affirms what 
he knows, from God's word, or God's Spirit, as received 
and used in his own experience. Much use must be 
made of one's own experience. 

Instruction is specifically didactic, not argumentative. 
Argument may sometimes be a necessary part of in- 
struction. But then it should be thrown into the form, 
of a method of conveying truth, rather than into the 
form, of attempting to prove what is doubtful, or liable 
to be doubted : for it is a peculiarity of the human 
mind, when dealing with religious subjects, to array 
itself against its teacher whenever he puts himself in 



232 PREACHING. 

the position of appealing to reason. Dr. Mitchell, of 
Philadelphia, once said to the Author — then a be- 
ginner — " whenever a Clergyman says, i I intend to 
prove so and so/ we hearers say to ourselves, ' it is not 
so easy as you think V We are impelled at once to put 
ourselves in antagonism, and to defeat the argument 
if we can ; so that your task becomes doubly difficult. 
It is wiser for you to convince us, without letting us 
know what you are about." Such is human nature. 
And therefore in the act of instructing, whilst using 
argument, we should avoid the form of it. 

Whenever a Minister instructs, he should be in all 
respects a teacher. And truths, necessary for conviction 
and persuasion are to be iterated and reiterated, until 
they become fastened into the belief of his people. 
The Pastor has the same power which belongs to a true 
painter : for truths are listened to, even when not 
understood or perhaps are considered doubtful, until 
at last they become imbedded in the soul : just as a 
master painting carries its lesson to the mind, and by 
reiterated impressions fixes it there, whether the ob- 
server be willing or unwilling to receive it. 

After Divine truth has been thus impressed, and 
finally believed upon the authority of God's word, our 
explanations of it become possible, and then the whole 
meaning of truths is accepted ; whereas at any previous 
moment no explications would even have been list- 
ened to. 

I remember a striking illustration. A professed 
sceptic on his death-bed, with whom the Rev. Dr. 
Moore, of Staten Island, was conversing, even at that 
solemn hour was laughing at religion and the Gospel 



METHOD OF PREACHING. 233 

of Christ. The old Pastor asked him, " What money 
will you take for the hope in Christ which you are 
cherishing at this moment?" The startling question, 
revealing to him a state of his mind respecting the 
Saviour of which he was scarcely conscious, sobered 
him instantly. His countenance fell ; and with a 
solemnity of tone and an earnestness which had all of 
truth in it, he said, " Xothing on earth!" The truth 
which he had been scoffing at, and rebelling against all 
his life, had, unconsciously, become fastened on his soul, 
by his Pastor's constant reiterations. He believed it 
whilst unconscious of belief, and he was actually rest- 
ing on a hope in Christ, even whilst his passions (not 
his reason) were striving to reject all thought of Christ. 

Our object then is to fasten truth upon the mind, 
without unnecessarily arraying antagonisms. Here we 
note an argument for the importance of catechisms, and 
catechetical instructions. By them, truths, and forms 
of truth, are imbedded on the youthful soul at an age 
when little opposition is made to them ; and so effectu- 
ally that those early impressions are never eradicated. 

Conviction has a different office from instruction. On 
the basis of truths impressed by instruction, our pur- 
pose is to convince the judgment and awaken the con- 
science. Here argument comes into play. But it ought 
to be argument, and not the mere appearance of it. 
Reason is to be appealed to and judgment invoked. 
But observe ; during this process we are never to ques- 
tion the authority of the Bible ; and never to question 
truths which have been clearly revealed. Such truths 
are not to become footballs for logic. Our object here 
will be to use reason only as the instrument for 

20* 



234 PREACHING. 

drawing right inferences from the truths which God 
teaches. 

Judgment and conscience act upon each other. Some- 
times they act simultaneously ; sometimes one and some- 
times the other precedes. For example, a person may 
be convinced of sin whilst not awakened at all. Some- 
times a person's conscience may be fully alive to his 
guilt as a sinner; and yet the person can give no 
rational account of the process by which he reached 
that conviction. In our sermons we are not to separate 
these processes too much. The processes of convincing 
and awakening should be carried on together. Large 
use is to be made of the argument from experience. 

Persuasion is an easy task when conviction has pre- 
viously done its part faithfully. When judgment is 
convinced that the course we propose is right and wise, 
and when conscience is awakened to feel its necessity, 
our work of leading men to desire it is nearly complete. 
Here come in appeals to the passions — indeed to every 
faculty in turn. Motives are to be urged : especially 
those motives which arise from love of Christ, and love 
to Christ. Thus the will is influenced and decided. 
And when we have gained full possession of the Will 
we may be confident that right action will follow. 

Saint Paul's Method. 

In further illustration of this point, I call attention 
to Saint Paul's method as developed in his epistle to 
the Romans. This was a document intended to be read 
in the Churches : occupying the place now held by a 
modern sermon. Its method is incomparable. Notice 
his observance of the logical and philosophical order in 



METHOD OF PREACHING. 235 

attempting to move the wills of men. The first part of 
the Epistle is occupied with instruction ; he gives infor- 
mation as to forgotten or hidden truths concerning 
human condition, and divine plans ; not in a dry 
didactic manner, but with all the life that belongs to 
truths of momentous importance affecting the individ- 
ual spiritual interests of those who listen. 

The second part of the Epistle is occupied by argu- 
ment and appeal based on these informations ; having 
a distinct purpose to convince the judgment and awaken 
the conscience. On this foundation of conviction, St. 
Paul labors, in the third part of the Epistle, to build 
the thorough persuasion of his hearers. 

Observe, in this model, the line of topics which the 
Apostle deemed best calculated to attain the one great 
object of preaching. For the Apostle labors, 

First, To convict of sin. 

Second, To lead sinners to be justified by Christ 
through faith. 

Third, To induce to good works from the motive of 
love to Christ ; or in other words to lead his hearers to 
sanctification in its experimental and practical aspects. 

We should labor at these three points in every dis- 
course. Of course the thoroughness with which we 
discuss them will vary according to the nature of our 
theme. But as no sermon is complete without a clear 
statement of the Gospel, so no sermon can be fairly con- 
sidered as adapted to accomplish its one great end, un- 
less it sets forth, in some degree, all these three essential 
elements of the Gospel — namely, sin, justification, and 
the intended results of faith. 

References might be multiplied. Examine St. Peter's 



236 PREACHING. 

sermon in the Temple, after healing the lame man. He 
proclaims Christ that he may charge upon his auditors 
the murder of the Prince of life ; defends his charge 
by prophecies; urges them to repentance, by many 
motives, but especially by the prospect of Christ's com- 
ing again ; urges them to believe in this Jesus by the 
example of power of faith in the blind man healed; 
moves them to turn away from iniquities, by consider- 
ing that they are still children of the Covenant, and are 
receiving a fresh instance of God's love by the proc- 
lamation of u Christ crucified" to them first of all. 

Here the three topics referred to are distinctly brought 
out; namely, conviction of sin, faith in Christ as a 
Saviour ; and reformation : all on the basis of a simple 
preaching of Christ and him crucified. 

In preparing a discourse we should keep in mind 
these three particulars as an epitome of our duty. We 
should never be satisfied with a sermon, nor ever think 
that we have prepared one which will work, unless it 
touches one or other of these points ; and touches them 
in connection with an earnest presentation of Christ 
Jesus, his character and saving work, as the grand 
motive for religious action. 



PREACHING. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

ITS SUBJECT. 

What is this truth, which we use for the saving of 
men? 

Within what range of Scriptural verities do we find 
the substance of our instruction, our power for con- 
viction, and the motives to be employed for persuasion ? 
These cluster only around " Christ crucified." The 
subject for our preaching is that which Christ himself 
came to bring to us from heaven, " the Gospel of the 
Grace of God." 

The Gospel. 

Seeing that the Gospel is our only theme, what is its 
extent : and what are its limits ? 

The Gospel is defined, in the w T ords:* "This is a 
faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that 
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." 
This is the truth we are looking for: and this text 
shows how that very thing is to be accomplished which 
we aim at. We preach to save sinners. Christ came 
to save sinners. We therefore preach of him and his 

* 1 Tim. i. 15. 

237 



238 PREACHING. 

work. And so the Baptist, Forerunner of the Lord, 
directs all eyes and minds to him : " Behold the Lamb 
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." The 
Apostles followed in the same track. To the Corin- 
thians,* Saint Paul affirms, "I determined not to know 
anything among you save Jesus Christ and him cruci- 
fied." And further on in the same chapter, he affirms 
what had been his habit, and the habit of all the 
Apostles, and should therefore be the habit of all who 
stand in the ministry which they have left, "We preach 
Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and 
unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them that are 
called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of 
God, and the wisdom of God." 

Christ crucified. 

The Gospel centres on the saving act, Christ's atoning 
death. It draws its life and inspiration from the Cross. 
The subject of our preaching is " Christ crucified" So 
that Bridges well remarks, " Christ crucified is God's 
grand ordinance. No souls can be won to him except 
by setting forth his Name, his work, and his glory." 
And I add, more definitely still, that Name is the 
Crucified Saviour; that glory the lustre of the triumphs 
of his love on Calvary. This is especially " The 
Gospel." 

But the Gospel is not narrow, nor is it one only 
topic : as if a Minister were to be always answering the 
jailer's question, and in the precise language which the 
Apostle employs. It embraces a wide circle of truths, 

* 1 Cor. i. 2. 



THE SUBJECT. 239 

which revolve around this central truth of the Cross. 
But it does not include all useful or all profitable truth. 
It has limits ; and they are well denned. 

Breadth and Limits. 

I give the following definition of the Gospel as a 
Theme, both as to its extent and its limits ; namely, it 
embraces that whole circle of doctrine and practice of 
which Christ on the Q*oss is the centre, and within which 
faith moves by love. 

It is that system of doctrine as to the nature, being, 
character, and work of God, which was manifested by 
Christ, and harmonized by his Cross : that scheme of 
doctrine as to the actual condition, relations, and re- 
sponsibilities of men, which was brought to light by 
the atonement. It is that system of practical holiness 
wherein every grace and virtue, radiant with the beams 
which spring from the bright example of Jesus, is 
revealed to the imitation of the child of God. It is 
that whole system within which faitli in Jesus moves ; 
wherein the influence of his love and grace tells upon 
and draws the human heart; wherein the soul respond- 
ing to those influences finds arguments for its confi- 
dence, and motives for its love, nourishment for its 
life, and impulse for its action at the Cross of Christ. 
All truth which lies within this circle is the proper 
subject for Gospel preaching. Nothing outside of it is 
an appropriate theme for a sermon from a Minister of 
the Cross. 

Thus Bishop Mcllvaine affirms, in his most lucid 
and discriminating charge on the " Work of preaching 
Christ": 



240 PREACHING. 

11 The Gospel concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, is the circle 
of doctrines, and duties, and promises, and blessings, which 
constitute the message of Salvation in Him. There is in it a 
s}'stem of parts mutually related and dependent ; all in perfect 
harmony, none so obscure or remote as to be of ho importance 
to the right representation of the whole. That system, like that 
of our Sun, has a centre, by which all the parts are held in place, 
from which all their life and light proceed, and around which 
all revolve. You cannot exhibit the system of truth and duty, 
till you have made known that central light and power : nor 
can you make known that power in all its truth, without ex- 
hibiting those surrounding and depending parts of doctrine and 
precept. That central sun of light and life is Christ. All of 
Gospel truth and duty, of consolation and strength, abides in 
Christ — is derived from Christ and glorifies Christ — and must 
be so presented, or it is divorced from its only life, and loses its 
Gospel character. He is the true Vine, and all parts of Gospel 
truth are branches in Him. Let such truth be presented with- 
out that connection, then its character as truth may remain, but 
its character for ' truth as it is in Jesus 1 is lost. Its vitality is 
gone. Fruit of life in Christ Jesus it cannot produce." 

Bishop Meade says : 

u The more correct manner of speaking is not to say this is 
the greatest of all themes, but that properly understood it em- 
braces all others. Christ is A and n, the first and the last, all in 
all of Scripture. Himself pointed out how all old Scriptures tes- 
tified of him. Apostles were continually doing the same; and 
thus preaching Christ while explaining Jewish Scriptures. The 
Old Testament in truth is one continued though varied prophecy 
of Christ in types, figures, and predictions. The New Testament 
is historical of the fulfilment of these prophecies — a development 
of the doctrines that lay concealed under the Old. Christ must 
therefore be the sum and substance of our preaching, if our 
preaching be right Christ must be interwoven in all our preach- 
ing, as the image of Phidias was said to have been carved on 
the shield of Minerva, nor could it be effaced without destroying 
the shield." 

According to the advice of Hermon, once Archbishop 



CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 241 

of Cologne, "All our sermons should be made to set 
forth and magnify Christ the Lord." Cecil remarks, 
" To understand, enter into, and open the various offices 
of Christ — this is the knowledge of Christ." And this 
is the knowledge, which is first to be made our own, 
and then to be conveyed to the people. The same 
author (Cecil) with severity, but not without truth, re- 
marks, " Divines in the present day are stunted dwarfs 
in this knowledge compared with the great men of a 
former age." Matthew Henry beautifully says, " The 
Scriptures are the circumference of faith, the round of 
which it walks, and every point of which compass it 
toucheth ; yet the centre of it is Christ. That is the 
polar star on which it resteth." And so our sermons 
are to be ; each one, and in every portion, should reveal 
or enforce some part of that system of truth, in which 
Christ is the central sun, which his light enlightens, 
which his influence sustains, and which his attraction 
constrains. We must never allow our sermons to get 
beyond the influence of His light and power : never 
put our hearers at a point where they cannot see Christ. 
As one well says, "No town is complete which has not 
a road to the Metropolis, so no sermon is finished, from 
every part of which the hearer cannot make his way to 
the Saviour." 

Observe — This is not to be accomplished by merely 
naming Christ, or speaking of his Cross. Some feel 
satisfied when they have done this: filling their ser- 
mons with an Evangelical symbolism. " Not that we 
would chime upon a name, as if it would operate with 
the magic of a charm. Some men think, that they 
preach Christ glowingly, because they name him every 
l 21 



242 PREACHING. 

ten minutes in their sermons. But this is not (neces- 
sarily) preaching Christ."* 

Nor are those inconsiderate hearers always correct 
who are dissatisfied with a sermon because Christ's 
name has not been often mentioned in it: or indeed 
in which Christ himself has not been the nominal sub- 
ject. For "As all the principles and duties of the 
Gospel bear a relation more or less direct to Him, their 
enforcement upon the round of this relation is as strictly 
conformed to the Apostolic pattern, as would be the 
most complete exhibition of his sufferings and death." 

It is quite possible to preach a sermon full of the 
Gospel, replete with its spirit, surcharged with its priv- 
ileges, and based entirely on its promises, which shall 
seldom name specific dogmas of evangelism. Isaiah 
has given a marked illustration, in his wonderful pic- 
ture of the Messiah. f No one can mistake the Person 
with whom his soul is filled; his eye follows him 
wounded, suffering, dying : his heart beats quickly as 
he realizes that this one hath borne our griefs and carried 
our sorrows ; his cry of exultation is still leaping down 
the ages, awakening echoes in every believing spirit's 
emotions, " I will divide him a portion with the great, 
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because 
he hath poured out his soul unto death." Yet he has 
not once mentioned the Messiah. He does not once 
declare who this servant is, who, as in another place, 
" cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Boz- 
rah." But, without a name every generation has recog- 

* Bridges, p. 281. 

f Isaiah, Ixii. and lxiii. 



BREADTH AND LIMITS. 243 

nized, in this inspired description, our suffering and 
glorified Lord Christ. So our sermons may be full 
of Christ, whilst his name is only in our hearts, and 
in the sacred reminiscences which we awaken in our 
people. It should never be necessary to write at the 
end of our discourse, this was a Gospel sermon, for its 
subject was Christ Jesus. 

In the spirit of a former suggestion, I repeat, our 
sermons should be real ; they should not only seem fcr 
be, but they should be in every part radiant with the 
graces and redolent of the love of the Gospel, and of 
our revered and beloved Lord. We will accomplish 
this purpose if, by every sermon, we leave on our hear- 
ers' minds the impression that every doctrine derives its 
value from the death of Christ • that that religion is 
powerless which does not spring from faith in Christ ; 
that moral and practical godliness have no sufficient 
motive except love to Christ. When such an impres- 
sion has been made, we may be satisfied that Christ 
has been preached. 

Observe now what a wealth of topics lies within the 
circumference which we have pointed out, all being 
directly within the influences of the cross of Christ, and 
all illumined thereby. These are 

Direct Doctrines ; of Christ. — His glorious Godhead, 
his incarnation, manhood, perfect life, atoning death, 
resurrection, and exaltation. 

Belated Doctrines; of Man's condition. — (That is, 
the doctrines of man's condition related to the direct 
doctrines named above.) His fall, corruption, condem- 
nation, pardon, justification, present holiness, eternal 
salvation. 



244 PREACHING. 

Manifested Doctrines; of God. — (That is, the doc- 
trines manifested by Christ.) God's nature, character, 
purpose, and plan : the Trinity : the threefold work of 
Creation, Redemption, Sanctification. 

Consequent truths; of religion. — (That is, truths which 
are consequences of the Gospel.) Privileges, duties, 
precepts, examples, specific duties in the relations of 
life, experimental religion, various phases of religious 
character. 

Necessary adjuncts ; of the new dispensation. — The 
Bible : revelation, its character, and evidence ; history 
and biography, pointing to Christ; connections of the 
Old and New Testaments as revealing Christ ; prophecy 
relating to the Messiah and his Kingdom ; the present 
means of grace and of keeping alive a knowledge of a 
true Gospel, namely, prayer, the Church, the Ministry, 
the Sacraments, and worship. 

All these are to be preached when occasion serves, in 
thei^ proportions, and relations : always under a recol- 
lection of their direct connection with Christ, and with 
a purpose to make clear, effective, and practical the one 
truth of a Saviour crucified.* 

It may be asked, Should all truths within this pre- 
scribed range be preached? Certainly. But not all 
with equal frequency. Each when required. But 
some will be needed much more frequently than others. 
For example : the doctrine of Divine existence, the 

* Special attention is invited to Bridges's excellent remarks 
upon the two related subjects, "Scriptural preaching of the 
Law, ,; and "Scriptural preaching of the Gospel." (Bridges's 
Christian Ministry, pp. 202-222.) Also to Bishop Mcllvaine's 
charge on the " Mode of preaching Christ. v 



BREADTH AND LIMITS. 245 

arguments for it, and the philosophical explanations 
of it, are seldom, perhaps never, to be made formally 
the topic of a sermon. It is to be treated incidentally ; 
taken for granted ; spoken of as an axiom and illus- 
trated : but not preached about as if there really were 
any Atheists in a Christian Society, where religion is 
known and the Bible is read. 

11 books that prove 

God's being so definitely, that man's doubt 
Grows self-defined, the other side the line 
Made Atheist by suggestion." 

Browning. 

The doctrine of divine decrees, is part of gospel 
truth : but it is not a part of the Gospel in the philo- 
sophical methods by which it is often taught and ex- 
plained. Consequently, while the practical aspects of 
it are to be preached about, the theoretical distinctions 
and explanations which have been thrown around it 
are not to be preached. The practical part of the doc- 
trine is displayed in Scriptural representations of God's 
sovereignty, and his gracious purpose towards redeemed 
souls. This truth must be taught and plainly set forth. 
But the most perfect manner of doing it is incidentally; 
by the way ; occasionally, with proofs and illustrations. 
It should give tone and character to our pulpit instruc- 
tions. But it should never become so much the promi- 
nent theme, as to hide its relative doctrines, namely, 
human freedom, and the entire responsibility of the 
human Will. And yet it should always be so clearly 
taught as to lead to dependence on the sovereign grace 
of God. 

So, the more speculative doctrines of Christianity, 
21* 



246 PREACHING. 

such as the mode of divine existence, the doctrine of 
the harmony of Christ's two natures, the condition of 
the soul in its separate state, the character of the resur- 
rection, and the fulfilment of unfulfilled prophecy, are 
to hold a very subordinate place in the instructions of 
the pulpit. At times each of them may be definitely 
enforced : at times the doctrine of the Trinity and the 
twofold natures of Christ must be both proved and 
illustrated. But the most profitable method of preach- 
ing on all these topics, is in general to take them for 
granted, to treat them as proved, to build upon them, 
and to teach them incidentally. This method is recom- 
mended on the ground that, in our preaching, practical 
truths should always be held of more importance than 
speculative, and the practical aspects of all truths should 
be presented primarily and habitually. 

Those doctrines, truths, precepts, and promises are 
to form the staple of pulpit teachings, which relate to 
man's lost condition and his recovery in Christ ; those 
which represent man's sinfulness, and the divine remedy 
in the Gospel ; those which lead him to humble him- 
self before divine grace, to seek the power of the Holy 
Spirit, to embrace the compassionate offers of the 
Saviour, to consecrate himself to Christ's service, and 
to pursue with diligence the one effort so to live as by 
God's mercy to attain eternal life. 

In immediate connection with this branch of our 
topic, attention is called to one series of doctrines which 
is too much overlooked, even by so styled Evangelical 
preachers. Undue prominence is not to be given to 
it, but it should be restored to the position in the 
analogy of doctrine, and to that due influence over 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 2±7 

practical religious life which it was intended to occupy. 
I refer to the practical aspects of the doctrine of the Holy 
Ghost, and its relations to the Christian scheme. It 
is intimately associated with the doctrine of Divine 
Sovereignty : and perhaps, in some minds, want of 
clear appreciation of that truth, has affected their 
ideas of the Holy Spirit's influence in the restoration 
of a sinner to holiness and the favor of God. 

Among points of doctrine belonging to the preaching 
of the Gospel, doctrines that circle around the Cross 
and lie within its influence, I specify the doctrine of 

The Holy Spirit. 

It is quite possible to dwell so entirely upon the work 
of Christ, as to shut out of view the work of the Holy 
Ghost : and it is quite possible to preach Christ in his 
saving offices, distinctly and constantly, whilst almost 
excluding the Holy Ghost from contemplation. A 
Clergyman may preach the rigid morality of the law, 
and its terrors, in order to lead to conviction of sin, 
repentance, and reformation. He may lead an inquirer 
out of that state of mind, directly to faith in Christ 
Jesus. He may preach that Saviour as full, complete, 
sufficient ; as graciously inviting all ; as open to the 
access of an humble faith. He may preach that Saviour 
as the Christian's strength, and life, and hope, and joy, 
and everlasting portion. He may preach Christ as the 
example, motive, and end of the Christian life. And 
he may thus make the Redeemer so only and constantly 
his theme, as never once to preach distinctly the offices 
and work of the Holy Ghost. 

Three wrongs are done by such omission : 



248 PREACHING. 

First. A wrong to the God the Holy Ghost. It is 
a forgetfulness of his Divine grace; a hiding of his 
love : it is, as far as the preaching is concerned, a deny- 
ing of the Holy Spirit ; and dishonor done to the grace 
of the Triune Godhead. 

Second. A wrong done to Christ and his Gospel ; to 
the plan of God's sovereign grace. For Christ him- 
self has been pleased to reveal the Holy Ghost, and 
has set forth his relations to the work of Redemption. 
The Divine plan is incomplete without it. 

Third. A wrong done to souls. For although it may 
please the Holy Ghost to bless the preaching of Christ 
Jesus to the saving of those who hear, notwithstand- 
ing this deficiency in the mode of ministration : yet as 
a general rule neither can sinners be converted, nor 
saints edified, unless they recognize the fact that the 
Holy Ghost is the author of every good and holy 
thought, affection, and action. Until this doctrine is 
revealed tjiere is a hiatus, an unbridged gulf, between 
sinners and Christ. The hiding of these truths which 
relate to the Spirit and his offices, is no doubt the cause 
why many inquirers are kept long in darkness and doubt; 
whilst many true believers make slow advances in Chris- 
tian hopefulness and enjoyment, and very little progress 
in the divine life, and in the imitation of the Saviour. 

We should bear in mind that we are living in the 
dispensation of the Spirit. It is distinctly such. The 
Saviour's work on earth, as Redeemer, has been com- 
pleted. His preparation of the scheme of salvation is fin- 
ished. He has ascended to heaven, to return only when 
the Holy Spirit shall have completed his part in the 
grand scheme. The Saviour is now fulfilling his offices 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 249 

in heaven. But the Spirit is definitely and personally 
present on earth ; abides with us ; is the Comforter, who 
never leaves us. This is now his dispensation • and here 
he fulfils his part in the great scheme of human salvation. 
No spiritually needy man to whom we preach will 
ever be convinced of sin, except by this Holy Ghost. 
No new birth into Christ will take place among our 
people unless this Holy Ghost shall graciously give 
them spiritual regeneration. We take of the things of 
Christ and show them unto the people ; but they will 
not look at them, unless the Holy Ghost both opens their 
eyes and renders the objects attractive. Sacraments 
prove to be of little value without His effectual in- 
spiration. Ordinances are of little worth unless His 
presence blesses them. Public worship, social prayer, 
the voice of supplication, thanksgiving, and praise, are 
of slight value unless He be present to make them the 
offerings of true and honest hearts. There will not be 
a saint in our Churches unless the Holy Ghost makes 
them Saints. Nominally religious people may be full 
of action, and bear a certain resemblance to the Saviour's 
image, yet, they may be only automatons ; playing well, 
so long as we move the strings with skill and care. 
But there may be no life in them. " Dead whilst they 
are living," as the Apostle writes. But if the Holy 
Spirit shall have given to any of our people a new 
birth, and brought them out of darkness and death into a 
Christ-life ; if the Holy Spirit shall have assumed their 
education in the graces of Christ Jesus' character ; then 
we will see Saints, whose virtues will glorify their Lord; 
whose vigorous Christian life, and glowing Christian 
affections, will enkindle our own. These w T ill be Saints 

L* 



250 PREACHING. 

whose loving prayers will draw down upon ourselves and 
our work and our churches the constant blessings of God. 

Let me urge that this topic should be kept constantly 
before our people in its proper proportion. The doc- 
trine of the Holy Ghost is an essential part of the 
Gospel. Nor however plainly we may preach doctrines 
concerning Christy in every other aspect, can we preach 
them as he desires, unless we preach him as revealed to 
men by the work of the Holy Spirit. 

The Holy Ghost is to be displayed in his Divine 
power, and Personal efficiency ; in his sovereignty and 
love as God; in his chosen position in the work of 
salvation. He is the Lord ; as in the Nicene Creed. 
We preach Him as the author of illumination, the 
source of religious life, the Creator of the new man, 
the Person who gives spiritual renewal. We preach 
Him as the Sovereign whose influences produce convic- 
tion, contrition, penitence, repentance, and faith. We 
proclaim Him as the gracious friend who efficiently 
leads a converted person through all steps of reforma- 
tion, and the slow process of formation of holy habits 
up to habitual walking with God, and the joys which be- 
long to the life of an established believer. We proclaim 
Him as the loving heavenly friend, who prepares God's 
children by faith, for saintly life, and a home with Christ. 

These doctrines are essential parts of God's plan of 
salvation. They are to be proclaimed as such, clearly 
and fully, with their proofs and explanations and illus- 
trations : often indeed only assumed as truths, reasoned 
upon, and made the bases of appeal; but often treated 
formally, with the warmth of a heart which has itself 
fed, and grown in grace, upon these spiritual verities. 



PREACHING. 



CHAPTER XV. 

WHAT ARE NOT ITS TOPICS. 

What topics are not to be considered proper themes 
for a Christian sermon ? 

Not speculations. 

The exposition of mere speculative questions is not 
preaching; such as, "Are other planets inhabited?" 
or, a more important theme, " The day and the hour 
of Christ's second corning?"* or philosophical specu- 
lations, such as, " What determines the will ?" 

Not mere information. 

Geographical, Geological, Astronomical, Historical 
facts by themselves, and as substance of discourse, do 
not form a true sermon. Nor do they form a sermon 
even when used as explanations of the divine word, 
unless at the same time the practical use of the facts is 
distinctly pointed out. Such information can be gained 
elsewhere. These topics, however, are rightly employed 
as illustrative and explanatory of the Gospel. Then 
they serve to add brightness and freshness to sermons. 

* St. Matt. xxiv. 36. 

251 



252 PREACHING. 



Not barren truths. 



Such truths as, "Be honest," "Be gentle," "Be con- 
siderate." All these are good : but they do not form 
a true sermon, unless distinctly connected with the 
Gospel, and unless that connection is distinctly pointed 
out. 

Not remote from Christ. 

In applying this rule great wisdom is to be used : 
for it is not easy to decide at what point moral truth 
ceases to be Gospel truth. There is a point of remote- 
ness from Christ where such a truth ceases to be evan- 
gelical. That point is certainly reached when the 
presentation of truth is so far separated from Christ, 
that it reflects none of his light. 

For example : the graces of the divine life may be 
the topics of discourse. But if we treat of them as 
we would of natural virtues, we shall fail to preach 
a Gospel sermon. In order that even the graces of 
Christian character should form the basis for a sermon, 
we must treat of them as " fruits of the Spirit," and 
show that they lie in the direct line of a living faith 
on Christ Jesus. Otherwise, the topic is remote from 
Christ : and it becomes a " barren truth." 

Not political. 

On the great and grave questions of public morality, 
and even of governmental sin, a Minister ought to 
express himself; but on mere questions of govern- 
mental policy, committed to statesmen, he should not 
preach. On no question, of any kind, should he preach, 
from the discussion of which Christ is excluded ; out 



NOT POLITICAL. 253 

of the consideration of which the preacher cannot go 
back to Christ immediately ; on which the Gospel has 
not a direct bearing; which does not relate in a 
manner, not far fetched, to the saving of men ; from 
which a transition to the Gospel would appear forced. 

These are the general principles which affect this 
subject. In general their propriety will not be ques- 
tioned. It is evident that inasmuch as we are conse- 
crated, set apart, to preach the Gospel, any topic remote 
from the Gospel is excluded from our preaching by the 
very terms of our ordination. And topics become 
improper to the Christian pulpit in exact proportion 
to their remoteness from the Gospel. 

The subject of political preaching deserves a more 
particular consideration. It may be said, public policy 
often affects the interest of Christ's Kingdom ; and 
therefore eminently requires discussion from the pulpit. 
But let us understand precisely the point in question. 
We are speaking of public affairs as they affect, not 
the morality of the Church, but its external condition. 
We are not questioning whether national sins, or gov- 
ernmental sins, are within the province of pulpit re- 
proof. Nor are we questioning whether laws affecting 
public morality are within the sphere of our discussion. 
Those points are not doubtful. Ministers are charged 
with a responsibility for the morality and virtue of the 
whole community. So that laws affecting the Sabbath, 
for example, are topics for the pulpit. But a law that 
would divide a State, would not be a topic for a Chris- 
tian Minister's sermon, although the result might be a 
dividing of a Diocese. 

Public policy, so far as it turns upon national sin or 

22 



254 PREACHING. 

national righteousness, comes within our purview : but 
even then, not as it is a feature of political economy, 
but only in its features of obedience or disobedience to 
God ; submission to or variance from the great funda- 
mental, universal, unchanging principles of holiness. 
The consideration of public policy, apart from the sin 
or righteousness involved in it, is excluded from the 
pulpit. 

First. By the relations of the Church to the State. 

We are members of a Kingdom separate and distinct 
from earthly kingdoms. There is an actual, formal, 
and recognized separation. We use all governments. 
The Church pursues its vocation under all, but inde- 
pendently of all. The form of State government is 
of much less importance to the Church than its own 
essential independence. And what we desire of the 
State is, liberty to serve Christ according to our con- 
sciences, and security from interference of government 
and its protection, whilst discharging our religious ob- 
ligations. This separation is distinctly recognized by 
our National Charter. In the original Constitution are 
the words, " No religious test shall ever be required as a 
qualification to any office f and more especially in the 
first amendment to the Constitution, " Congress shall 
make no law respecting an establishment of religion, 
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." On which, 
Judge Story remarks, the first clause was " designed to 
cut off every pretence of an alliance between the 
Church and the State, in the administration of the 
National Government. The American people had suf- 
fered too much, not to dread the abuses of authority 
resulting from religious bigotry, intolerance, and per- 



NOT POLITICAL. 255 

secution. These evils were more effectually guarded 
against by the first amendment to the Constitution. 
We are not to attribute this prohibition of a National 
religious establishment to an indifference to religion in 
general, and especially to Christianity, but to a dread 
by the people of the influence of ecclesiastical power 
in matters of Government." Judge Story further 
remarks, " There can be no doubt of the duty of 
Government to maintain by law the great interests 
of religion and morality." Nor can there be any 
doubt, we think, of its duty to guarantee the entire 
independence of the Church, so far as Church laws do 
not conflict with the rights and duties of citizens. The 
only serious question is this : what are the limits of 
governmental interference in religion ? And this ques- 
tion is still in abeyance. But the principle of separation 
of the Church, and its influence as a Church, from the 
State in reference to all questions of public policy, was 
no doubt intended to be settled in the constitutional 
provision before quoted. Judge Story interprets it as 
intending to prevent " the influence of Ecclesiastical 
power in matters of Government ;" and again, to " cut 
off every pretence of alliance between Church and 
State in administration of Government." 

On this ground, therefore, the Clergy are bound to 
abstain from employing their clerical influence and 
their power in the pulpit, in any effort to affect ques- 
tions of State policy. I consider any such interference 
a violation of the Constitution. And if there be no 
actual law to prevent it, there is a moral obligation 
which should suffice. " Freedom of speech" is not 
touched by these remarks. Many harp upon this 



256 PREACHING. 

string, mistaking the character of that freedom of 
speech which was guaranteed by the Constitution. As 
a citizen every Clergyman has entire liberty of speech ; 
but he is to use it as a citizen and not as a Minister of 
God. As an officer of Ecclesiastical government his 
liberty of speech is restrained, in order to prevent col- 
lisions between civil and ecclesiastical politics. Officers 
of ecclesiastical government among us use the pulpit 
as their place of authority, and employ their official 
position as the means of giving force to that authority. 
In accordance with our forms, they thus influence the 
public mind of congregations. Comparing our form of 
State policy with that against which the Constitution 
protested, can it be thought that a few Bishops in the 
House of Lords could exert more influence on public 
affairs, than can be exerted by the thousand pulpits 
of our land which move the sympathies and lead the 
judgments of citizens, if they were combined to influence 
the election of our legislators? 

Illustrative of this topic ; it is certain that, on this 
point, our people have always shown great jealousy. 
Especially watchful, they have not hesitated to protest 
through the papers and in public meetings, against 
every flagrant violation of the principle. In times of 
grave political trial they have been as careful to protest 
against the interference of the pulpit, as to maintain 
the rights of law. During the agitations of the disas- 
trous years, from 1861 to 1865, the interference of the 
pulpit with public policy was made a grave cause of 
complaint. It was among the grievances complained of 
by those who opposed the government in the fall of 
1863. In Congress it has been heard, more than once, 



NOT POLITICAL. 257 

that that war was made by the "Abolition Clergy." 
And although the assertion may well be deemed mere 
demagogism, yet the prominent part taken by many 
of the Clergy in public discussions, both in the pulpit 
and on the platform, in respect to political affairs, was, 
as a fact, employed by irreligious men of both political 
parties in Congress, for enforcing the draft upon the 
Clergy. 

A curious illustration of this sensitiveness of our 
people occurred in my own experience. After a very 
exciting election in New York, I w r as preaching on the 
text, " There arose no small stir about that way. And 
the whole city was filled with confusion. Some there- 
fore cried one thing and some another; for the as- 
sembly was confused ; and the more part knew not 
wherefore they were come together. But all with one 
voice for the space of about two hours cried out, great 
is Diana of the Ephesians."* 

My purpose in using a text, which applied so well 
to the circumstances of the preceding week, was tc 
enforce the truth that excitement from secular causes 
interferes with the quietness of religious practice and 
the progress of spiritual truth. In the process of 
argument, I said, " I am a party man." Instantly 
one of the leading men of my parish, an influential 
politician, who supposed that I had voted on the op- 
posite side from himself, rose and walked out of the 
church, not waiting for me to conclude the sentence, 
" My King is Jesus, and He is the object of my alle- 
giance and the subject of my enthusiasm." He learned 



* Acts xix. 23, 29, 32, 34. 

22* 



258 PREACHING. 

afterwards that there had been no ground for his fears ; 
but it furnished an important hint as to this sensitive- 
ness of our people, which has not failed to be profitable 
to me. 

Second. The consideration of public policy is ex- 
cluded from the pulpit by the nature of the subjects 
involved. Their necessary tendency is to lead the 
mind away from religion. Newspapers are filled with 
them. The minds of our people are surcharged with 
them every secular day. We are bound to afford our 
people a day of rest, and to relieve them on the Sab- 
bath from the agitations of the week, by peaceful med- 
itations which belong to truths that cluster around the 
Cross and heaven. 

They are elements of discord in our congregation. 
And (saving discussion of questions of national morality 
and public right) we have no right to throw apples of 
discord on the paths of congregational life. 

Equally with these considerations, we as Clergymen 
are not put in charge of this subject of public policy; 
nor does our education fit us especially to consider 
it wisely. This truth may not be flattering to our 
pride, but it is worthy of our reflection. Our theolo- 
gical studies have led in an entirely different direction. 
Our isolation of thought from ordinary politics, an 
isolation which is to be encouraged because it is suited 
to our holy calling, and our habit of looking at all 
topics in their relation to Christ's Kingdom, do not 
prepare us for profitably discussing politics before the 
people. Neither has God called us to the work of 
being political leaders. There may be some giant 
statesmen among our clergy whose peculiar turn of 



NOT POLITICAL. 259 

mind, or well-matured opinions, would give weight to 
their judgment, and fit them to be leaders in affairs of 
state. If such men feel called to enter the arena of 
political strife, they are called away from the ministry. 
Divine Providence invites them to the care of national 
affairs : and it will be their wisdom to obey the call. 

I apply these principles in one or two instances. 

Is rebellion a proper topic for the pulpit ? Certainly, 
because it is a sin ; an offence against God's law; a grave 
public crime. But in discussing it a Minister must 
keep to its moral and religious aspects ; and avoid com- 
plicating it with public and party policies. 

Is the way to deal with such a rebellion as disturbed 
our peace in 1861 to 1865 a proper subject for the 
pulpit? No. Because God has separated matters which 
are wholly political from ecclesiastical influence, and 
committed them to statesmen. 

Is slavery a proper topic for the pulpit ? 

At one time the inquiry would have been pertinent, 
but at present it has no practical value. Even when 
slavery existed the topic was excluded by every dictate 
of wisdom and good sense from those pulpits where 
the congregation had no relations with the system, and 
where it was not necessary to treat it either for the 
amelioration or the destruction of slavery. Now that it 
is no longer known among us, the question need not be 
discussed. 

Suppose public policy should be leading to a terri- 
torial division of the Church ; should not the division 
be discussed in the pulpit? No; because if accomplished 
it would not necessarily affect the spiritual interests of 
religion or of the Church. 



260 PREACHING. 

In the application of these principles great wisdom 
is to be used. If a Minister's soul be filled with love 
to Christ and desire for the saving of the souls of his 
people, he will be seldom troubled by conscientious 
doubts as to the themes which should occupy his pulpit 
discourse. 



PREACHING. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

ITS POWER. 

The power of preaching lies essentially in its subject 
Preaching possesses a natural power as an instrument, 
whether rightly or wrongly used ; employed by a 
heretic as well as an orthodox Minister. But there is 
a moral power, a divinely ordered influence, proceeding 
from that pulpit which preaches the Gospel of Christ, 
that no other can equal. Human eloquence can never 
compare itself with this divine eloquence. Graces of 
diction, arts of elocution, the skill of the orator, can 
never produce such effects as a simple, earnest, expe- 
rienced preaching of Christ crucified. When those 
other influences become adjuncts of the Gospel message, 
its power is increased. Christ intends that the highest 
skill of the human preacher shall be bent to give effect 
to his Gospel. When a Christian orator forgets him- 
self in his message, and uses every effort of skilful 
composition and effective delivery in order to set forth 
Christ, a Christ whom he loves above himself, then a 
redoubled power is given to his preaching. Yet even 
then it is, " not by might nor by power (human power) 
but by my spirit saith the Lord." And an Apostle 
thus expresses the result of his experience, an Apostle 

261 



262 PREACHING. 

who had studied eloquence in the highest school : " I 
determined to know nothing among you save Jesus 
Christ and Him crucified." 

The power of preaching lies in a skilful, constant, 
faithful, experienced proclamation of Christ Jesus. 

This proclamation is to exhibit Christ in entireness, 
in his person, characteristics, offices, and example. 

In his person, as the God-man ; His true Divinity, 
and actual manhood; the only person of the Trinity 
who has become personally manifest during the medi- 
atorial dispensation. The God of Adam and Ante- 
diluvians ; of Noah and the patriarchal church ; of 
Abraham and the ancient church of Israel. Jehovah. 
The God of Providence and Grace, the actual Head 
of the present Church, and the Ruler of the present 
age. The future Judge and Restorer. The author of 
the Resurrection; and the giver of eternal life. 

This personal Christ is man ; actually, really ; not by 
figure of speech. This relation was decided on before 
the World was ; prefigured by frequent appearances, and 
foreshown by his constant interest exhibited in human 
affairs : assumed at Bethlehem. His manhood as shown 
by sympathy, experience of human wants, by fellowship 
in affections, in sufferings, and in temptation : and by 
his death and resurrection. This manhood still existing 
in all its realities. The man Christ Jesus is seated on 
his throne ; and the whole dispensation as thus linked 
with the truth that Christ is the God-man. 

His Characteristics. — All divine attributes. Too 
much of their force is lost w T hen preached as if they 
were attributes of a far-off Being, an impersonal essence, 
a Being incomprehensible. But Christ the Person is 



ITS POWER. 263 

the Being who to us is Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omni- 
present, Just, Wise, Loving, Truthful. Each of these 
attributes to be pressed as characteristic of the God-man, 
with whom, as individuals under his mediatorial dis- 
pensation, we have to do ; and our relations to him are 
immediate. 

His Offices , both general and particular. 

General : as Redeemer, Teacher, Governor, for all. 

Particular : as Saviour of them that believe, as 
Prophet teaching them, Priest in interceding for them, 
King in ruling them, and controlling all things for them. 

His Example, as the actual standard and guide in 
morals, for all men; his example the one example of 
obedience to the law ; a test of sin ; his example giving 
the line of a possible obedience, because Christ was an 
actual man ; an obedience which is to be the standard 
for the final judgment of men. All these topics have 
also a special relation to his believing people. 

Laying such a basis of truth a preacher will possess 
power in producing conviction of sin ; in its various 
aspects, actual and inherited ; sins in particular ; sinful- 
ness as a condition ; spiritual ruin by sin ; danger from 
sin, and while continuing in sinful practices. 

Christ as the end of the Law. 

Preaching of the law is necessary in order to exhibit 
the character of sin and our exposure to condemnation. 
But this topic, not generally known as legal preaching, 
although it may be truly so called, possesses no vital 
power, and is very hard and dry unless one adds to it 
the true Gospel portraits of Christ as the Author of the 
Law ; the God-man who enforces it ; the one who reme- 



264 PREACHING. 

dies the woe which sin has brought in ; and the griev- 
ousness of sin in that it offends and sets at nought this 
Christ. " Out of Christ," said Cecil, " God is not even 
intelligible, much less amiable. Such men as Clarke 
and Abernethy talk sublime nonsense. A sick woman 
once said to me, ' Sir, I have no notion of God ; I can 
form no notion of Him. You talk to me of Him, 
but I cannot get a single idea that seems to contain any- 
thing/ 6 But you know/ I said, ( how to conceive of 
Jesus Christ as a man. God comes down to you in 
Him, full of kindness and condescension/ 'Ah, sir/ 
she replied ; ' that gives me something to lay hold on. 
There I can rest. I understand God in His Son. And 
if God/ she added, 'is not intelligible out of Christ, 
much less is He amiable, though I ought to feel Him 
to be so. He is an object of horror and aversion to me 
corrupted as I am. I fear — I tremble — I resist — J 
hate— I rebel/ " 

Job furnishes a true illustration when he says, " I 
have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now 
mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself and 
repent in dust and ashes." A knowledge of the Gospel 
induces a deep sense of sin. A true Christian is the 
truest penitent. Increasing godliness produces, or at 
least is necessarily accompanied by, an increasing clear- 
ness in one's view of the Gospel, and consequently gives 
an increasing sense of our weakness and deficiency. 

Such preaching has great power when as the next 
step it leads to faith in Christ for justification. Thus : 
under a sense of sin, one longs to know that the Saviour 
actually possesses both ability and willingness to save. 
Your explanations of the method of justification, which 



ITS POWER. 265 

is the substance of the mediatorial scheme, will present 
the Saviour in this light as supremely able, and abso- 
lutely friendly. Then an act of faith in such a Saviour 
becomes not only perfectly natural, but is impulsive. 

The power of such preaching is shown by its leading 
men to reformation and sanctification : which are parts 
of each other, and of one process. The preaching of 
the Law produces no real reformation unless it is 
coupled with the presentation of a gracious Saviour, as 
a pure exemplar ; and withal as a sufficient and sus- 
taining God. 

His character. — Consider its winning power, its 
beauty, and attractiveness. Consider how rapidly ref- 
ormation of evil habits must proceed when a penitent 
realizes, and, as it were, lives in the presence of such 
a Saviour. Sanctification is essentially, becoming like 
to Christ, an affectionate imitation of his example. 
Consider how much this process will be advanced by 
our habitual representation of such a character in the 
Person who is our Saviour. The good old illustration 
that follows is none the worse for its age, not any the 
less impressive because it is familiar. The first Green- 
land convert of the Moravian Missionary, said : 

11 Brethren, I have been a heathen, and have grown old among 
the heathen; therefore I know how heathens think. Once a 
preacher came and explained to us that there was a God. We 
answered, ' Dost thou think us so ignorant as not to know that?' 
Another preacher began to teach us, < You must not steal, lie, 
nor get drunk.' We answered, ' Thou fool, dost thou think that 
we don't know that?' And thus we dismissed him. After a 
time brother Christian Henry Kauch came into my hut, and sat 
down by me. He spoke to me nearly as follows : ' I come to 
you in the name of the Lord of heaven and earth. He sends 
m 23 



266 PREACHING. 

me to let you know, that he will make you happy, and deliver 
you from the misery in which you lie at present. To this end 
he became a man, gave his life a ransom for man, and shed his 
blood for us.' I could not forget his words. Even while I was 
asleep, I dreamt of that blood which Christ shed for us. I found 
this to be something different from what I had ever heard, and 
I interpreted Christian Henry's words to the other Indians. 
Thus through the grace of God, an awakening took place among 
us. I say, therefore, brethren, Preach Christ our Saviour, and 
his sufferings and death, if you would have your words to gain 
entrance among the heathen.' ; * 

What power for persuasion can compare with a 
preaching of a personal Christ ! Our personal rela- 
tions to him furnish a motive which appeals to every 
affection and emotion in turn : fear, love, hope, am- 
bition, gratitude. 

Consider the power that lies in the truth, that Christ 
is our God, knowing us thoroughly, understanding 
every turn of our hearts by experience, ever present with 
us as the Almighty Sovereign. Such a representation 
does not leave God in remoteness ; does not diminish 
the impression of His majesty by the feeling that we are 
indefinitely separated from Him. Such preaching re- 
stores for practical use, the idea of personal unity in 
the Godhead, which is lost when we contemplate the 
unity of the Godhead as a speculative idea. That is a 
tri-personal unity; and in that sense beyond our ap- 
prehension. But when we contemplate our Lord Christ 
as God, this personal idea has full effect. It brings 
God near us. We are placed in constant and close, 
and vital relations with Him : He is God manifested ; 
and He is God who has graciously made himself known 

* Crantz, History of Greenland. 



ITS POWER. 267 

to us. We depend on Him as creatures. We depend 
on Him as redeemed men ; on Him as believing chil- 
dren. A singular power resides in preaching when 
it represents the God-man, the Saviour, the loving, 
gracious friend, as the object of personal faith. 

But whilst this theme is a powerful instrument, its 
real spiritual effectiveness in the pulpit is given only 
by the Holy Ghost. The history of preaching mani- 
fests that the Holy Spirit never fails to make use of 
it as a power in any preacher's hands. And experience, 
tested by ministerial work, undoubtedly exhibits the 
fact that the Holy Spirit does not make any other 
theme powerful for the conversion of men, the gather- 
ing of a Church, or the edifying of Saints. 

One other thought is germane to this topic ; namely, 
that this power in preaching is largely dependent upon 
a minister's personal experience. Human nature is a 
curious compound. Credulity and incredulity are twin 
sisters. Responding to truths conveyed by words, yet 
men are constantly engaged in reading between the 
lines; and if the truths uttered can possibly be re- 
garded as experiments rather than experimental, a 
majority of men will cast them aside as worthless. We 
are obliged to take this peculiarity into the account. 
If men see that a preacher utters what he has felt, 
advises to a course which he has already followed, 
points to a path over which he looks back with satis- 
faction rather than forward with speculative hope ; if 
he says, "conie!" instead of "go!" they accept his 
counsel with readiness, or if they refuse it, do so with 
hesitation. There is very much reality in society 
around us. And men and women to whom we preach 



268 PREACHING. 

desire above all things to see the evidences of reality 
in our speech. After a sermon which contained a great 
deal that was practical, an old Christian whispered to 
another, " He preaches well ; what a pity he never felt 
it!" The uncharitableness of the remark need not 
hide the force of the illustration. 

So far then, and only so far as Preaching is the 
utterance of one's own experience, it possesses Poiver. 

Hence we derive a reasonable definition of 

Unction. 

This term so familiar to the old French preachers, 
has been variously defined. It is that peculiar power in 
preaching which carries Gospel truth home to the heart. 
I am inclined to think that we find the true definition 
by coupling these two thoughts, now developed, namely, 
the theme, and personal experience. There can be no 
unction in a sermon, without a presentation of the one 
theme. But the theme will have no unction in its 
presentation except on the lips of one who utters his 
own deep and true experience of it. 

Heard, in his essay, " Pastor and Parish," well says, 
" The mystery of preaching is this, that a word should 
be the bridge across which spirit passes to hold com- 
munion with spirit. Nor is this all the mystery : the 
same word which heard by thousands is a sound in the 
ear, and nothing more ; the same pathetic appeal which 
in the eyes of thousands is only a flash of eloquence, 
becomes to the awakened spirit a sight and a sound, 
like that which Saul alone understood and interpreted, 
when the rest of the company stood speechless, hearing 
a voice, but seeing no man. So the voice and gesture 



UNCTION. 269 

of the preacher may be voice and gesture only to a 
church full of people; but to one prepared spirit, it 
may be the Holy Ghost speaking with power." 

But we cannot look for the grace of the Holy Ghost 
to accompany our preaching unless we actually labor in 
the use of his theme and labor in his line. " Between 
spirit and spirit there is usually a gulf fixed. Even 
Christian people cannot always bridge it over." The 
difficulty in preaching is to pass this gulf. And 
preaching becomes effective only in proportion as it 
becomes spiritual communion. 

But for spiritual communion there must necessarily 
be common thoughts on a common theme, and a com- 
parison of experience. Consequently that which ren- 
ders Pastoral visiting efficient and valuable in its place, 
gives value to the pulpit ; that is, a communication of 
experience as to the things of Christ. Hence Fenelon 
used to say, " none but Pastors could preach." Heard 
adds, " This spiritual power which is the secret of all 
true pulpit eloquence comes not by study, nor by prac- 
tice. It is only seen with one who has been tried and 
tempted, as well as taught, in the school of Christ." 

We conclude then, with this definition of unction. 
It is spiritual experience preaching of Christ. 



23* 



PREACHING. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE MATTER OF IT. 



In this chapter we turn to a totally different aspect 
of Preaching ; the mechanical structure of a sermon : 
and first the matter which is to form it. 

Definition. — The matter of a sermon is the substance 
of the discourse; that upon which the mind of the 
hearer is to rest, and be exercised ; which is to excite 
thought; and which is to be remembered. It forms 
the basis of instruction, and conviction; and out of it 
persuasion is to grow. 

A sermon, therefore should be full enough of mat- 
ter to accomplish these purposes. There must be 
thought in it, if one wishes the people to think when 
listening to it. Declamation, exhortation, and the ex- 
ercise of imagination, may awaken feeling or excite the 
mind, but they do not exercise it ; such influences will 
not produce permanent effects. 

Matter does not consist in quotations of passages of 
Scripture, nor in quotations from good authors ; but in 
elaborated thought. The sermon should produce the 
impression that what you are preaching results from a 
matured action of your own brain upon materials pre- 
sented to the people. Not much effect would be pro- 
270 



THE MATTER OF A SERMON. 271 

duced by quoting three pages of Cruden, or a dozen 
from any commentator, or by a whole line of proof 
texts on any topic. But let the same material be ar- 
ranged, systematized, and jointed together, so that it 
becomes the product of the preacher's reflection ; then, 
even a valley of dry bones of texts, u very many in 
the open valley and very dry," will be transformed 
into a great army of living thoughts, for bone will have 
come to its bone, and the skeleton will have flesh on it, 
and a spirit of life will have entered into it. 

I can well imagine that that became one of the most 
eloquent sermons ever preached, which was read to his 
examiners by a young Methodist Minister, out of the 
v., vi., and vii. chapters of S. Matthew. He was com- 
pelled, unexpectedly, to make an exhortation before 
them. Vainly looking for a text, he turned from one 
thought to another, as he began to read aloud the Ser- 
mon on the Mount. He did not find his text. But his 
mind was so engaged, whilst searching earnestly into the 
meaning of each passage, and comprehending each verse 
with new intensity, that he preached the grand old ser- 
mon over to each hearer. As he sat down, each felt that 
the matter of the sermon had become the speaker's own. 

The mode of obtaining such matter is by reading ; 
which is the feeding of the mind : and by meditation ; 
which is the digestion of the mind, appropriating and 
making its own what is read. 

The point is this : that matter however obtained, is 
to become the preachers own. No man must preach 
other men's discourses : nor even satisfy himself by 
quoting them. Heard says, " Plagiarists steal thoughts 
as Gypsies do children ; and then disguise them, lest 



272 PREACHING. 

they should be recognized." " Many a laborious and 
wearisome search after that which might save the time 
and trouble of original thought, has ended in the pro- 
duction of a piece of vapid formality, not to be com- 
pared for ministerial efficiency, with a few pages of 
honest though inexperienced meditation." Little can 
be got out of the head, but what has been put into it. 
It is well to read approved authors ; but what is read 
should be submitted to a process of meditative diges- 
tion, in order to reproduce it in a new and original 
combination. Every thinker has a speciality of char- 
acter which will appear in all he writes. Even borrowed 
thoughts then become his. His mode of reproduction 
gives them originality. The golden vessels of the Sanc- 
tuary lose nothing by passing through the crucible of 
the refiner, and the hand of the skilful moulder. The 
fine gold is not changed : but the impress of the new 
workman's finger is left upon the work, and it has be- 
come an original. So worked over, borrowed thoughts 
possess a raciness, which no artifices of elocution applied 
to borrowed composition can successfully imitate. 

"A preacher who begins as a copyist is never likely 
to get the better of it. If he had begun with a quarter 
of an hour of his own reflections, he would find, that, 
with practice, the reflections would become more varied, 
the illustrations more lifelike, and the style, if not less 
homely than at first, would gain precision and force. 
But the young preacher puts down a dry stick instead 
of a sapling, and need not wonder if his dry stick does 
not blossom and bear fruit."* 

* Heard, Pastor and Parish. 



ELABORATED THOUGHT. 273 

Oar Author is very properly inveighing against a 
habit of dependence upon other men's labor. But I 
do not understand him to condemn a habit of feeding 
upon and assimilating in one's own mental processes 
the thoughts of other men. There is no other process 
indeed by which mental growth can be produced. Nor 
in fact is there anything under this sun absolutely new ; 
or purely original. What was true in Solomon's age 
is true to-day. Sometimes the thinker may create 
what is new to him; but it may not be new to the 
world. Yet such thoughts are as original with him, 
as they were to the one who first uttered them. I 
heard a discourse on one of the Saviour's miracles, 
which contained a thought new, and fresh, and spark- 
ling with suggestiveness. Yet, when conversing about 
it with a scholar who is familiar with the deep places of 
patristic lore, it appeared that the same thought had 
occurred to Saint Augustine. The new thought was 
1500 years old. Nevertheless, it was as original to the 
younger as to the older Preacher. 

Thoughts have been used over and over again ; 
originated, if I may so say, unnumbered times. Like 
the food our bodies grow upon, so is mental pabulum. 
Food for our minds is not created anew for each suc- 
cessive generation ; but it comes to them in altered 
forms, through those wonderful processes of mental 
elaboration which the Creator has devised. And all 
that the most original mind can hope for is, that every 
thought it obtains from others shall be so entirely made 
its own by meditation, that it shall honestly seem to be 
original to itself. From whatever source obtained then 
the matter of our discourses is to be elaborated thought. 

M* 



274 PREACHING. 

Amount of Matter. 

A discourse should be full enough of matter to sat- 
isfy intelligent hearers. But discretion is to be shown. 
The sermon must not seem to be crowded. If unfor- 
tunately it should be a little too full, at least avoid 
impressing that idea upon your hearers. Never make 
an apology for the length of your sermon. If it be 
too long the people w^ill discover it soon enough. For 
example, never say, " The subject is so large, that I 
must strain your patience," or, "I hope I shall not 
weary you," or, " Bear with me a little longer ;" at 
either of which wisely considerate suggestions all the 
congregation begin to be restless, and most of the 
gentlemen take out their watches, to see how long 
their patience has been already taxed ; and to calculate 
how much more they can endure. 

A Minister is not wise who wearies his people. They 
need food, and there should be enough of it ; but not 
too much, so as to disgust, for it is to be digested ; 
and a cheerful spirit is a great adjunct to healthy 
digestion. Too much even of a good thing leads to a 
mental revolt. Some of the Israelites suffered from a 
superabundance of quails, though those were brought 
to them on the very winds of God. And even God's 
truth, bountifully scattered by His Hand, and whole- 
some as it is when thus diffused, may, by human 
indiscretion, be so concentrated in a discourse, as to lose 
its wholesomeness. Bridges has well said : 

u It would be well that our discourses should be like Elihu's — 
full of matter : and we must regret that a good man is not always 
a wise and a full one. Yet we must remember our people's 



DILUTION. 275 

capabilities, the limited nature of their digestive powers, and 
the serious injury of stretching them beyond their natural ex- 
ercise. The principle of our Lord's instruction was, to 'speak 
the word unto the people, as they were able to hear it.' Had he 
said all that he could have said, it would have been infinitely 
more than they would have been able to have received ; and 
consequently the grand end of his instruction would have been 
lost. It needs much prudence to select the most appropriate 
instruction." 

Mr. Cecil justly remarks that " it requires as much 
reflection to know what is not to be put in a sermon, 
as what is." 

Dilution. 

We are to avoid dilution. "Milk" for babes and 
u meat" for men are two different hinds of food, not the 
same food in two different states. We may boil the 
meat to shreds until it becomes unfit to be eaten, but we 
cannot make milk out of it. Some men seem to forget 
this fact. Simplicity is not simpleness. Simplicity in 
thought is not meagreness nor meanness. However 
simple, let the matter be strong. 

Matter should be suited to the simplest people ; but 
this is not done by degrading either truth, or the man- 
ner of expressing it. Blunt has well said : 

"It is a mistake, I think, into which many young Preachers 
fall, that they reckon upon the simple people whom they have to 
address, loving simplicity over-much, and on this account dilute 
their divinity till it is really too small for babes. In almost all 
congregations there are some persons of liberal education, many 
of shrewd natural parts ; and it must be always borne in mind 
that the Bible, and what relates to it, is the whole compass of 
every poor man's literature ; which is a circumstance that may 
sometimes bring him nearer to his teacher, whose attention is 
distracted by other subjects, than is suspected. A very humble 



276 PREACHING. 

worshipper is capable of profiting by sound and pregnant argu- 
ments, if well put and simply worded ; and if occasionally you 
leave him behind you, you give him a cud to chew, and induce 
him to ask himself whether it may not be worth his while to sit 
at the feet of the teacher, instead of pushing him off his chair 
and taking his place. Nee meus hie sermo. Baxter, whose ex- 
perience of mankind with respect to this question was large, cau- 
tions the Preacher against ' enticing the people to think that he 
is as ignorant as they, and that they are as worthy to be preachers 
as he.' " 

St. Paul had meat for men as well as milk for babes. 
He employed some " sayings hard to be understood," 
and sometimes was for " leaving the principles of the 
doctrine of Christ and going on unto perfection." We 
must remember that education is widely disseminated 
among our people. The educated members of our con- 
gregations require at our hands more careful instruction 
than any other class, and probably a larger share of it. 
In fine, we must not cater for any appetites exclusively. 



PREACHING. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



STYLE. 



Definition. — Style is from the ancient Latin, stylus, 
the pen : accommodated ; that which it wrote for that 
which wrote it. Afterwards the word came to mean 
the peculiar manner of writing or composition belong- 
ing to each nation or person. 

Consequently, no invariable rule can be given for 
style, because it is formed by the constitution of mind, 
the character, or the circumstances of the individual. 
It is a matter of taste and habit. A bad style may be 
corrected, and ought to be : but one must be careful, 
when attempting to correct, not to become an imitator, 
and not to lose one's own, in endeavoring to follow an- 
other. 

The subject belongs to sacred composition. A few 
remarks are ventured here however, as pertinent to the 
present topic ; some of them, particularly valuable, be- 
cause they were impressed upon my mind by Professor 
Aytoun (the Poet), of Edinburgh, when attending his 
lectures on Belles-Lettres at the University in that 
city, in 1848-9. Undoubtedly he was the most bril- 
liant lecturer I ever listened to ; every thought whilst 
it sparkled, attracted his hearers, not only because it 

24 277 



278 PREACHING. 

seemed to be, but because it was, a gem. Some of his 
suggestions I am able to repeat, taking them from notes 
made at the time. I add my own comments. The 
Professor died many years ago. 

Aim. 

Two points are to be aimed at in a sermon : Sim- 
plicity and Point 

There are three degrees of eloquence. 

The first aims only at pleasing ; such are panegyrics, 
inaugurals, and lectures. 

The second aims both to please and instruct, to in- 
form and convict, to remove prejudice, and lead a hearer 
to embrace the speaker's side; such is especially, the 
eloquence of the bar, and some of the higher class of 
lectures. 

The third aims to interest, to convince, to lead to 
sympathy with the speaker, to agitate, and prompt to 
act with decision. This is the eloquence of the pulpit : 
and is the highest kind. (Aytoun.) 

Simplicity, is most favorable to the development in a 
speaker of strong passion, which is necessary if he would 
sway the mind. 

Point, aids him in keeping his own mind and his 
hearers' minds fixed on the end to be attained; and 
gives his eloquence more freedom ; whilst its repeated 
blows are more effective. 

To attain simplicity and point; I recommend that 
you have something to say ; understand what you are 
going to say ; then say it. 

The qualities requisite are these four: sound argu- 
ment ; clear method ; perfect conviction on the part of 



STYLE. 279 

the speaker, and the appearance of it; graces of 
diction, style and manner. 

His studies of theology ought to enable a Clergyman 
to produce sound argument. Of clear method we shall 
treat after a while. Perfect conviction on the part of a 
Minister is to be taken for granted. The consideration 
of graces of diction, style and manner belong to the 
subject of Rhetoric. But a few thoughts as to language 
and rules of composition will be pertinent before pro- 
ceeding to consider the subject of clear Method. 

Language. — The English is copious, varied, capable 
of all uses, appropriate to every purpose of the pulpit. 
Its chief sources are the Northern German, the Nor- 
man, and the Latin. It is like the people themselves, 
an amalgamation of tongues as of nationalities. After 
each conquest new words flowed into the stream of lan- 
guage, and gradually mingled with the current. There 
is in it a representation, in words, of every blood which 
gives the peculiar tinge of life to the Anglo-Saxon 
family, from northern, central, or southern Europe. 
The Prayer Book, and the translation of the Bible are 
the best illustrations of this pure English tongue. The 
prayer book offers an illustration, at almost every page. 
For example, let us study the second special prayer for 
Ash Wednesday. 

" O most mighty God, and most merciful Father, who hast 
compassion upon all men and hatest nothing that thou hast made ; 
who would'st not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should 
turn from his sin, and be saved ; mercifully forgive us our tres- 
passes ; receive and comfort us, who are grieved and wearied 
with the burden of our sins. Thy property is always to have 
mercy j to thee only it appertaineth to forgive sins. Spare us 
therefore, good Lord, spare thy people, whom thou hast re- 



280 



PREACHING. 



deemed ; enter not into judgment with thy servants, who are vile 
earth, and miserable sinners; but so turn thine anger from us, 
who meekly acknowledge our vileness, and truly repent us of our 
faults, and so make haste to help us in this world, that we may 
ever live with thee in the world to come; through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen." 



mighty is 


Gothic. 


grieved is 


French or Latin. 


merciful, 


Low Lat. 


wearied, 


Anglo-Sax. (wearig). 


compassion, 


Latin. 


burdened, 


Anglo-Sax. (byrden). 


hatest, 


Gothic. 


property, 


French. 


wouldest, 


Germ. Lat. (wol vol). 


appertain eth 


, Latin. 


death, 


Anglo-Sax. (dead-ian). 


spare, 


Anglo-Sax. (sparien) 


sinner, 


Auglo-Sax. 


vile, 


Anglo-Sax. or Lat. 


rather, 


Anglo-Sax. (rath). 


miserable, 


Latin. 


turn, 


Anglo-Sax. (tyrn-an). 


fault, 


Latin. 


saved, 


Greek or Latin. 


make, 


Anglo-Sax. 


forgive, 


Anglo-Sax. (for-gif-an). 


haste, 


German. 


trespasses, 


French. 


help, 


Gothic. 


receive, 


French. 


world, 


Anglo-Sax. (womld). 


comfort, 


Mid. Latin. 







Of twenty-seven principal words in this Collect, six- 
teen are Anglo-Saxon or Northern German. The curi- 
ous mingling of national languages is also to be noted. 

In the choice of language, it is to be noted, that Saxon 
words are used for strength, simplicity, and precision. 

Latin words are generally used for ornament, de- 
scription, figures of speech, expansion, and illustration. 
As for example, the following " Johnsonianisin" — Pope 
versus Dry den — 



"In acquired knowledge, the superiority must be allowed to 
Dryden, whose education was more scholastic. The notions of 
Dryden were formed by comprehensive speculation ; those of 
Pope by minute attention. There is more dignity in the knowl- 
edge of Dryden, and more certainty in that of Pope. 

" The style of Dryden is capricious and varied ; that of Pope 
is cautious and uniform. Dryden's page is a natural field, rising 
into inequalities, and diversified by the varied exuberance of 



ANGLO-SAXON LANGUAGE. 281 

abundant vegetation ; Pope's is a velvet lawn, shaven by the 
scythe, and levelled by the roller. 

" Dryden is read with frequent astonishment, and Pope with 
perpetual delight." (Johnson.) 

Saxon is the best for the people ; most easily under- 
stood by all; specially liked by children. It is the 
basis of popular language. Observe the following 
specimen of pure Saxon by a Scotch poet who came 
from among the people : 

" The Early Dead. 

" But still the dead shall more than keep 
The beauty of their. early sleep : 
Where comely looks shall never wear 
Uncomely, under toil 'an care. 
The fair at death be always fair : 
Still fair to living thought 'an love, 
'An fairer still to God above, 

Than when they died in beauty." 

Wonderfully strong, because there is not one Latin 
word in the whole stanza ! 

Note the difference in strength between Saxon and 
Latin, in the following synonymes : 



Rest. 


Repose. 


Work. (Goth.) 


Labor. 


Go back. 


Retrograde. 


Sin. 


Transgression 


Sinner. 


Transgressor. 


Turn. 


Reverse. 



I give you the same thought in two languages. 
" Repress thy desires, delay thy footsteps, and medi- 

24* 



282 PREACHING. 

tate, O insensate transgressor !" {Latin,) " Stop, poor 
sinner ! Stop, and think !" (Saxon.) 

Short words have the most strength. Let the plain- 
est and simplest be used. In fine, use an Anglicized 
Saxon. Our translators of Scripture scarcely ever use 
words beyond a trisyllable in length. " In proportion 
as men have real and undoubted scholarship do they 
study a Saxon style and homely illustration." 

Technicalities, theological phrases, and professional 
forms of expression are to be avoided; except when 
precision in theological statement is required. The 
language of the pulpit and the language of the people 
are too often different languages. We hardly realize 
how many of our hearers are ignorant of the simplest 
ideas in the language of religion. Many a time we 
preach to them in an unknown tongue. 

Being in South Carolina, in the pine woods, some 
twenty-five years ago, I met a Presbyterian Clergy- 
man, w T ho gave a curious illustration of this point. 
One of his constant hearers was a learned and intelli- 
gent (?) physician. This gentleman came to him one 
day, and said, " My dear friend, you will pardon me, 
I hope, for the suggestion, but really sometimes, I 
think that it would be w r ell if you gentlemen of the 
Clergy w r ould study a little more physiology." " How 
so ?" answered my friend. " Why," said he, " I have 
been listening to you a long while, and I like to hear 
you. But you often recommend your hearers to get a 
new heart. Do you know that that operation would 
kill the patient ?" 

We may ponder with profit Macaulay's eulogium on 
the style of the Liturgy, 1689 : 



LANGUAGE. 283 

" To rewrite the Prayer Book was a bold undertaking, for in 
general the style of that volume is such as cannot be improved. 
The English Liturgy indeed gains by being compared even with 
those fine ancient liturgies from which it is in a great extent 
taken. The essential qualities of devotional eloquence, concise- 
ness, majestic simplicity, pathetic earnestness of supplication, 
sobered by a profound reverence, are common between trans- 
lations and the originals. But in the subordinate graces of 
diction the originals must be allowed to be far inferior to the 
translations." 

He proceeds to give the reason, namely, that the 
technical language of Christianity did not pass into 
the Latin, until Latin was becoming barbarous : but 
the technical language of Christianity was found in 
the Saxon and the Norman before the union of the 
two had produced the Anglo-Saxon language, which is 
superior to either. A very profound observation. 

" The diction of our Book of Common Prayer," he continues, 
u has directly or indirectly contributed to form the diction of 
almost every great English writer, and has extorted the admira- 
tion of the most accomplished infidels, and of the most accom- 
plished non-conformists ; of such men as David Hume and 
Robert Hall." 

I give as a contrast and a warning some illustrations 
of amplification and turgid weakness versus conciseness 
and strength. 

Macaulay says, " The Doctors of the Jerusalem 
Chamber voted the Collects too short and too simple : 
and Patrick was intrusted with the duty of expanding 
and ornamenting them. In one respect the choice 
seems to have been unexceptionable; for if we may 
judge by the way in which Patrick paraphrased the 
most sublime Hebrew poetry, we shall probably be of 



284 PREACHING. 

opinion tnat whether he was or was not qualified to 
make the Collects better, no man that ever lived was 
more competent to make them longer !" 

11 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures : lie leadeth me 
beside the still waters." 

Commentary, 
" For as a good shepherd leads his sheep in the violent heat to 
shady places, where they may lie down and feed (not in parched, 
but) in fresh and green pastures ; and in the evening leads them 
(not to muddy and troubled waters, but) to pure and quiet 
streams : so hath he already made a fair and plentiful provision 
for me ; which I enjoy in peace without any disturbance."* 

" I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my be- 
loved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love." 

Paraphrase. 
" So I turned myself to those of my neighbors and familiar 
acquaintance, who were awakened by my cries to come and see 
what the matter was ; and conjured them, as they would answer 
it to God, that if they met with my beloved, they would let him 
know — what shall I say? what shall I desire you to tell him? 
but that I do not enjoy myself, now that I want his company : 
nor can be well, till I recover his company again, "f 

11 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, thou 
fairest among women ? what is thy beloved more than another 
beloved, that thou dost so charge us ?" 

Paraphrase. 
u And some of them had so much compassion upon me, as to 
interest themselves so far in my sorrows, as to inquire into the 
cause of them ; and how they might be assistant unto nue in 
their cure ; for they asked me, "Wherein doth thy beloved e*cel 
other excellent persons? he is very lovely, no doubt, because 
beloved of thee, who art the most amiable of all other women ; 

* Patrick's Commentary, Psalm xxiii. 2. 
f Canticles v. 8. 



RULES OF COMPOSITION. 285 

but what is his pre-eminence, wherein do those who are worthy 
of the greatest love, fall short of him ? that thou art thus 
solicitous about him, and layest such a severe charge upon us, 
to assist thee in thy search of him ?"* 

Rules of Composition. 

Discourse is composed of sentences. 

A sentence is that form . of speech which has a be- 
ginning and an end within itself, and of such a length 
that it may be easily comprehended. (Aytoun.) 

Kinds. — Sentences are either simple or compound. 

In a simple sentence, the whole meaning is conveyed 
without any division. A simple sentence is best ex- 
pressed in Saxon. It is altogether the best form of 
sentence. 

In a compound sentence, the meaning is conveyed by 
parts ; but no perfect sentence conveys more than two 
ideas, or has more than two parts. 

Punctuation is important, to aid in determining the 
character and length of a sentence. A Colon (:) marks 
the end and completion of one idea. A Semicolon (;) 
the subdivision 'of an idea. Consequently no good 
sentence contains more than one colon (:) ; and although 
a semicolon (;) may be repeated, it cannot be very fre- 
quently repeated in a sentence without leading to am- 
biguity and heaviness. A dash ( — ) is used to denote 
a sentence within a sentence; a sentence interjected. It 
is allowable, but rarely. It is dangerous. Its frequent 
use indicates a careless thinker, a mind wandering from 
the thought. (Aytoun.) A comma (,) denotes a pause 
in thought. A period (.) marks the close of a sentence. 

* Canticles v. 9. 



286 PREACHING. 

Whenever a sentence cannot be easily punctuated, it is 
not clear, nor well formed. 

As an illustration of the value of punctuation, and 
also as an exercise in the art to those who desire to try 
their skill, I give the following extracts. The same 
passages, correctly punctuated, will be found elsewhere. 

Punctuation. 
Atheism. 
"I confess it is not a wicked man's interest if he resolve to 
continue such that there should be a God but then it is not 
men's interest to be wicked It is for the general good of human 
society and consequently of particular persons to be true and 
just it is for men's health to be temperate and so I could in- 
stance in all other virtues but this is the mystery of atheism 
men are wedded to their lusts and resolved upon a wicked course 
and so it becomes their interest to wish there were no God and 
to believe so if they can." — Tillotson, i. 369. 

Interior of St. Mark's Church. 
li The light fades away into the recess of the chamber towards 
the altar and the eye can hardly trace the lines of the bas-relief 
behind it of the baptism of Christ but on the vaulting of the 
roof the figures are distinct and there are seen upon it two great 
circles one surrounded by the 'Principalities and Powers in 
heavenly places' of which Milton has expressed the ancient 
division in the single massy line 

'Thrones Dominations Princedoms Virtues Powers' 

and around the other the Apostles Christ the centre of both and 
upon the walls again and again repeated the gaunt figure of the 
Baptist in every circumstance of his life and death and the 
streams of the Jordan running down between their cloven rocks 
the axe laid to the root of a fruitless tree that springs upon their 
shore ' Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be 
hewn down and cast into the fire' Yes verily to be baptized with 
fire or to be cast therein it is the choice set before all men." — 
Raskin's Stones of Venice. 



RULES OF COMPOSITION. 287 

Tales of a Traveller. 

" The carriage had driven up The wheels turning on patent 
axles without rattling the body hanging so well on its springs 
yielding to every motion yet protecting from every shock the 
ruddy faces gaping from the windows sometimes of a portly old 
citizen sometimes of a voluminous dowager and sometimes of a 
fine fresh hoyden just from boarding-school And then the dickeys 
loaded with well-dressed servants beef-fed and bluff looking down 
from their heights with contempt on all the world around pro- 
foundly ignorant of the country and of the people and devoutly 
certain that ever}- thing not English must be wrong." — Irving, 
Popkins Family. 

Advertisement in the Times. 

11 Rooms to let ^N"o 6 Piccadilly for single gentlemen 13 feet 
long by 8 feet wide." 

It is important to vary the forms of sentences in a 
discourse. A succession of short sentences wearies the 
hearer ; so does a succession of long sentences. There- 
fore forms of sentences should be judiciously varied. 

A perfect sentence is an epitome of a perfect dis- 
course. Four qualities are requisite to it. The first 
relates to ideas : the other three to language. 

1. Unity of idea or thought. 

2. Clearness. 

3. Strength. 

4. Harmony of language. 

Unity of thought or idea. — The very nature of a 
sentence implies that only one thought is expressed by 
it. Composition may be termed painting for the ear. 
Therefore it should be regarded as picture writing. 
Consequently, " a sentence should never contain more 
ideas than the eye could see at one time from one 
point, if it were a painting and the ideas were objects."* 

* Eev. Dr. Muhlenberg at the Flushing Institute. 



288 PREACHING. 

The language which expresses that one thought 
should be clear; absolutely transparent. The order 
of words should be such as to allow of no ambiguity. 
A writer must take care that the hearer not only may, 
but that he must understand. Ambiguity is a grave 
fault in any writing except that of a sphinx ; a very 
grave fault in the sentences of a sermon. Ambiguity 
may arise sometimes from the choice of words ; as, for 
example, from a misuse of apparent synonymes. But, 
commonly, it arises from a faulty arrangement of words, 
or of the members of a sentence. 

Words or members of a sentence which are the most 
nearly related, should always be placed as near to each 
other as possible. Adverbs should be as close as pos- 
sible to the words they qualify. A useless repetition 
of particles, or pronouns, will produce ambiguity. 

Precision should be sought in every sentence ; and it 
should express neither more nor less than is intended. 

To attain strength of expression, let the idea be 
thought out clearly ; then written in the clearest lan- 
guage, which is always the strongest. The sentence 
should be divested of all redundant words ; that is, of 
all words whicli are not necessary to convey, or to add 
real importance to, the meaning. Strength in composi- 
tion may be acquired by avoiding two errors, first, re- 
dundancy and pleonasm ; that is, too many words, and 
a repetition of the same words : second, tautology ; that 
is, the repetition of the same idea in different words. 

The application of these principles is a difficult task, 
and will try the sincerity of a sermonizer. But as no 
preacher has a right to impose crude thoughts upon his 
auditors, so no preacher has a right to present to his 



RULES OF COMPOSITION. 289 

people a sermon which is a crudity in composition. 
Professor Aytoun recommended, and every sincere 
writer will certainly endeavor to practise, the following 
rules : 

Review every sermon before preaching it; and strike 
out all words which do not convey an idea. This is 
what surgeons call heroic practice ; but such use of the 
knife will lengthen the life of a sermon. 

Strike out every phrase which repeats the idea in 
different words. Scarcely less heroism is needed for 
this process. 

Strike out all words which do not add to the idea. 

By this time your sentences will have been consider- 
ably, perhaps sufficiently reduced in number ; and will 
have become clear in expression. Avoid the use of 
small words, unless they are really necessary. For ex- 
ample, the appellative " and" will weaken style if it 
occurs too frequently. It may be an important word 
however, when each object is to be considered sepa- 
rately : as for example, "Ye cannot serve God and 
Mammon." In this sentence, u and" is the emphatic 
word. The idea is that God and Mammon cannot 
be served at the same moment. It is obvious that a 
person may serve God at one time, and Mammon at 
another. 

As a valuable specimen of a style, in which the form 
of sentences varies, and each sentence possesses unity, 
whilst all are clear, strong, and harmonious, let the fol- 
lowing passage from Macaulay be studied : 

"Tillotson's style. — Of all members of the Low Church party 
Tillotson stood highest in general estimation. As a preacher he 
was thought by his cotemporaries to have surpassed all rivals 
*r 25 



290 PREACHING. 

living or dead. Posterity has reversed this judgment (reversed?). 
Yet Tillotson keeps his place as a legitimate English Classic. 
His highest flights were indeed far below those of Taylor, of 
Barrow, and of South : but his oratory was more correct and 
equable than theirs. Xo quaint conceits, no pedantic quotations 
from Talmudiats and scholiasts, no mean images, buffoon stories, 
scurrilous invectives, ever marred the effect of his grave and 
temperate discourses. His reasoning was just sufficiently pro- 
found and sufficiently refined, to be followed by a popular audi- 
ence with that slight degree of intellectual exertion which is a 
pleasure. His style is not brilliant, but it is pure, transparently 
clear, and equally free from the levity and from the stiffness 
which disfigure the sermons of some eminent divines of the 
seventeenth century. He is always serious ; yet there is about 
his manner a certain graceful ease which marks him as a man 
who knows the world, who has lived in populous cities and in 
splendid courts, and who has conversed not only with books, but 
with lawyers and merchants, wits and beauties, statesmen and 
princes. The greatest charm of his compositions, however, is 
derived from the benignity and candor which appear in every 
line, and which shone forth not less conspicuously in his life, 
than in his writings."* 

Harmony of language is agreeable to the hearers. It 
adds to irupressiveness, when it is natural. It is de- 
structive to effect whenever it is labored, or leaves an 
impression that the speaker is seeking after it. In a 
degree it may be desired by a preacher. Harmony 
arises from the choice of words ; and from the colloca- 
tion and distribution of members of a sentence. Vowel 
sounds are always pleasing to the ear. Consonants are 
strong. Long words, if not too long, are agreeable. 
Short words are more nervous. (Aytoun.) 

Beauty arises from a balancing of parts in a sentence. 
The pauses in a discourse should be arranged so as to 

* Macaulay's England. 1856, p. 424. 



CLEAR METHOD. 291 

give musical proportion. The distribution of sentences 
should be such, that the sermon may be easily pro- 
nounced. An occasional discord is equally necessary ; 
for its resolution into harmony, as in music, increases 
the influence of the harmony, by the relief and contrast 
afforded. Too much harmony tires and nauseates. 
Gibbon's style is an illustration of both good and faulty 
harmony. In general, his constant antitheses, and the 
musical rhythm of his sentences wearies, whilst it 
charms. 

Clear Method. 

A discourse is a compound of sentences. Conse- 
quently similar rules apply to the structure of a dis- 
course. The requisites are unity, perspicuity, order, 
and naturalness. 

The first requisite of a discourse is Unity of design. 
Blair's rule is to be followed ; u to take one idea and 
stick to it." Leave one impression on the hearer's 
mind. There should be one leading topic in every 
good discourse. All parts should tend to that. All 
subordinate thoughts should rise out of it. All pro- 
posed action should be suggested by it. Every good 
sermon is therefore capable of receiving a title ; a name 
which will be characteristic, and describe all its features ; 
by which it may be known from all other discourses. 
A good title is brief. Tillotson and Jortin do not give 
names to their discourses : but in this they differ from 
almost all other principal writers, such as Chalmers, for 
example. Bradley's titles, in his volumes of sermons, 
are models of terseness and appropriateness. Each 
presents the salient truth of the discourse ; and of sixty 



292 PREACHING. 

on a variety of subjects, the titles are generally in three 
words : in no instance more than seven. 

Unity should be also observed in the parts of a 
sermon. There should be no jumbling of instruction, 
argument, and exhortation. Each part should have a 
distinct design, and accomplish it, being kept distinct 
and separate from every other part. Occasionally, 
under an impulse of the theme, exhortation will follow 
immediately upon instruction or argument: but gen- 
erally, exhortation should be the climax of discourse, 
following after and naturally flowing out from them. 

By perspicuity is meant clearness, transparency in 
the object of the discourse. As in a Sentence so in a 
whole sermon, let the writer be sure that he compre- 
hends what he designs to say, before attempting to say 
it. Quintilian's rule is excellent : Nobis prima sit 
virtus perspicuitas. Propria verba; rectus or do ; non 
in longum dilata conclusio ; nihil neque desit, neque 
superfluat. For us preachers a first rule is perspicuity. 
Appropriate words ; a right order ; a conclusion not 
long delayed. Nothing wanting, nothing superfluous. 
We speak to be understood. Let us determine not 
only that the hearer may, but that he must understand 
us. It is well to endeavor when writing a sermon to 
put one's self in the hearer's place : and to try the 
effect of an argument or exhortation, by imagining 
one's self, listening to it. Some noted writer was ac- 
customed to practise upon a confidential servant, by 
reading to him his theses. We suppose that the ser- 
vant's wages must have been large : but it is said that 
his shrewdness often afforded his master valuable 
criticisms. It would be well for a Clergyman to enlist 



CLEAR METHOD. 293 

a charitable friend occasionally in a similar service. 
One well says, " What is written at first for our own 
sake, should be written a second time for the sake of 
others." Perspicuity in argument, or in instruction, 
will not admit of much mingling of those purposes. In- 
struction and exhortation are out of place in the midst 
of an argument. They offend and disappoint because 
they are unexpected : and consequently produce no 
good result. So, to break in upon a passionate appeal 
by a set argument will destroy them both. 

Order, in a discourse is of great importance. It is 
necessary to a thorough treatment of a subject. The 
want of completeness in sermons is due, not so often 
to want of correct views or of ability to express them, 
as to confusion in arrangement of thought, or want of 
arrangement. Perhaps a writer is carried along by 
one idea and its accessories. He follows it out without 
regard to unity. He lets his mind run away with him 
whilst he drops the reins. He suddenly finds himself 
at the end of his hour, whilst the most important sug- 
gestions of his subject are still unnoticed. It is the old 
story of Phaeton in the chariot of the Sun. Swiftly as 
the hours run, he outruns them all, and plunges over 
the edge of his topic, leaving his hearers in profound 
darkness as to it. I have heard such a sermon. The 
preacher rambled on extemporaneously for nearly an 
hour, most pleasantly it is true ; when, recalled by the 
clock, he hastily announced that on the next occasion 
he would preach upon the text. 

Sometimes a Preacher, allowing himself in an equally 
unjustifiable fault, runs hither and thither, like a care- 
less child in a flower garden, picking ideas without 

25* 



294 PREACHING. 

purpose or plan. Instead of offering to his people a 
bouquet carefully arranged to be enjoyed, his scattered 
thoughts are given loosely and loosely held, and are 
soon trampled under foot and forgotten. The diffi- 
culty of recollecting sermons arises from this fault. 
Congregations need to be led through a topic in some 
clear order ; their minds kept upon a track, so distinct 
that they can see and feel it, and when reviewing it be 
able easily to retrace their steps. They will not other- 
wise follow, and cannot remember. It is not always 
necessary to specify each step in the line of thought by 
numbers or symbolic words. Milestones and fences do 
not make a road. They are helps and conveniences to 
a traveller. So the road along which the hearer is to 
travel is not made by guide posts, or cabalistic words 
of minute divisions, but it is a line of thought. If 
the successive steps of it are clear to the speaker, they 
will be clear to the hearer. Not seldom the announce- 
ment of a minute analysis of a subject will tire, if it 
does not confuse, a listener. 

Naturalness, 

All natural discourse is impressive. No sermon 
can be effective which is or seems to be strained or 
affected. Naturalness in the pulpit is worth more than 
learning, talent, or oratory, without it. A hearer 
should feel that the speaker himself is speaking. This 
art is not the imitation of nature. The art of speak- 
ing, I define as, letting nature speak. Each speaker 
has a method and style of his own ; which is more 
effective than any that he can borrow : if, for no other 
reason, because he is used to using it. David with 



CLEAR METHOD. 295 

sling and stone is a match for the Philistine : in Saul's 
armor he had been but a dead man. So let each speak 
his own thoughts, in the way that nature prompts. 

But nature should be educated. It is possible to 
correct errors in style without destroying its native 
qualities. A Clergyman's aim should be, whilst avoid- 
ing faults in his method of writing or speaking, such 
as all right training will point out, to retain that natu- 
ralness of style which individualizes him, and in the 
use of which alone he can exhibit strength. 



Note. — The following are the passages referred to 
on pages 286, 287 of these Lectures. Each is here 
given according to the punctuation of the Author : 

Punctuation. 

Atheism. 
"I confess it is not a wicked man's interest, if he resolve to 
continue such, that there should be a God ; but then it is not 
men's interest to be wicked. It is for the general good of 
human society, and consequently of particular persons, to be 
true and just; it is for men's health to be temperate, and so I 
could instance in all other virtues : but this is the mystery of 
atheism, men are wedded to their lusts, and resolved upon a 
wicked course ; and so it becomes their interest to wish there 
were no God, and to believe so if they can." — Tillotsox, i. 
369. 

Interior of St. Mark's Church. 

l: The light fades away into the recess of the chamber towards 
the altar, and the eye can hardly trace the lines of the bas- 
relief, behind it, of the baptism of Christ: but on the vaulting 
of the roof the figures are distinct, and there are seen upon it 
two great circles, one surrounded by the ' Principalities and 
Powers in heavenly places,' of which Milton has expressed the 
ancient division in the single massy line, 

' Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers/ 



296 PREACHING. 

and around the other the 'Apostles — Christ the centre of both; 
and upon the walls, again and again repeated, the gaunt figure 
of the Baptist, in every circumstance of his life and death ; and 
the streams of the Jordan running down between their cloven 
rocks ; the axe laid to the root of a fruitless tree that springs 
upon their shore. ' Every tree that bringeth not forth good 
fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire.' Yes, verily : 
to be baptized with fire, or to be cast therein ; it is the choice 
set before all men." — Buskin's Stones of Venice. 

Tales of a Traveller. 
"The carriage had driven up. The wheels turning on patent 
axles without rattling ; the body, hanging so well on its springs, 
yielding to every motion, yet protecting from every shock; the 
ruddy faces gaping from the windows — sometimes of a portly 
old citizen, sometimes of a voluminous dowager, and sometimes 
of a fine fresh hoyden just from boarding-school. And then the 
dickeys loaded with well-dressed servants, beef-fed and bluff; 
looking down from their heights with contempt on all the world 
around ; profoundly ignorant of the country and of the people, 
and devoutly certain that every thing not English must be 
wrong." — Irvixg, Popkins Family. 



PREACHING. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

MANNER. 

WBITTEX AND EXTEMPORE DISCOUKSE. 

Manner. 

It should be that of a man who is, and realizes that 
he is, an Ambassador of God. 

The Minister is a man, teaching men. Therefore 
he must be humble, because he is only a scholar; a 
scholar distinguished indeed by divine grace, but on 
that account the more to be clothed in humility. His 
manner should be solemn, devotional, affectionate, 
earnest, full of life, and suited to his theme. The 
old rule still lives, "Si vis me flere flevendum est 
tibi." 

Bishop Meade, quoting from Dr. Miller, says, " Be 
assured that after all the rules and instructions which 
have been given on pulpit eloquence, and which in 
their place have great value, that which outweighs 
them all, is that you go to the Sanctuary with your 
heart full of your subject, warmed with a love to your 
Master, and to immortal souls, remembering, too, that 
the eye of that Master is upon you, and that for the 
sermon you are about to deliver, you must soon give 
an account before the judgment seat/' 

n* 297 



298 PREACHING. 

Baxter says, " It is no trifling matter to stand up in 
the face of a congregation and deliver a message of 
salvation or damnation, as from the living God, in the 
name of the Redeemer. It is no easy thing to speak 
so plainly that the most ignorant may understand us ; 
so seriously that the deadest heart may feel ; so con- 
vincingly that contradicting cavillers may be silenced. 
Alas, how few ministers preach with all their might, 
and speak about everlasting joys and torments in such 
a manner as to make men believe that they are in good 
earnest! Few ministers will so much as exert their 
voice, and stir themselves up to an earnest delivery." 

The Rev. J. J. Blunt in his " Duties of a Parish 
Priest" says, " But if I were to name any man who 
seems to me to possess a style at least eminently calcu- 
lated for the effective Preacher, the easy and flowing 
and unambitious diction, the firm sentence, the vigor- 
ous, original, and most appropriate metaphor, above 
all, the intense (I may say the vehement) desire (to 
use one of his own phrases) i to get within men' whilst 
preaching, it is Baxter. The younger Calamy says, 
' Baxter talked in the pulpit with great freedom about 
another world, like one that had been there, and was 
come as a sort of express from thence to make a report 
concerning it. He was well advanced in years, but 
delivered himself in public as well as in private with 
great vivacity and freedom, and his thoughts i had a 
peculiar edge! " 

Delivery should be sufficiently deliberate without 
being slow; with distinct enunciation; especially having 
that freedom which is gained by familiarity with one's 
manuscript or theme. The nearer it approaches to that 



MANNER. 299 

of the extemporize^ the more impressive it will be. 
It should be conversational, but dignified. Burnet 

says : 

11 In the delivering of sermons, a great composure of gesture 
and behavior is necessary, to give them weight and authority. 
Extremes are bad here." " The great rule, which the masters 
of rhetoric press much, can never be enough remembered ; that 
to make a man speak well, and pronounce with a right emphasis, 
he ought thoroughly to understand all that he says, be fully per- 
suaded of it, and bring himself to have those affections which 
he desires to infuse into others." " That a discourse be heard 
with any life, it must be spoken with some." " But the rule I 
have reserved for the last is the most necessary of all, and with- 
out it all the rest will never do the business ; it is this : That a 
man must have in himself a deep sense of the truth and power 
of religion ; he must have a life and flame in his thoughts with 
relation to those subjects : he must have felt in himself those 
things which he intends to explain and recommend to others. 
There is an authority in the simplest things that can be said, 
when they carry visible characters of genuineness in them. A 
man will often feel, that ' while he is musing, a fire is kindled 
within him.' Sometimes this fire will carry him, as it were, 
out of himself, and yet without anything that is frantic or en- 
thusiastical (fanatical ?). Discourses brought forth with a lively 
spirit and heat, where a composed gesture, and the proper mo- 
tions of the eye and countenance, and the due modulations of 
the voice concur, will have all the effect that can be expected 
from anything that is below immediate inspiration."* 

The most serious faults of manner arise from affecta- 
tions, from self-consciousness, and from attempts to 
imitate the manner of those who are regarded as distin- 
guished preachers. Mere rapidity of utterance without 
an exuberance of thought, would not be an imitation 
of Phillips Brooks. Any affectation proves that the 

* Burnet, edit. 1849, p. 241. 



300 PREACHING. 

speaker is self-conscious, if not vain ; and the appear- 
ance of it is therefore destructive to a preacher's in- 
fluence. Indeed it produces in the hearers a feeling 
akin to disgust. 

Mannerisms are very disagreeable. An appearance 
of fatigue or illness, is to be avoided ; as also whatever 
methods of speech, posture, or gesture that might annoy 
or distress our hearers. If a Minister is really too 
fatigued or to ill to proceed, he should not attempt the 
task. Sometimes such artifices are employed to excite 
sympathy ; but they invariably fail. Unless manner is 
genuine its unreality exposes itself. It is the actor re- 
citing his part behind the scenes, and produces the same 
effect. No other consciousness belongs to the pulpit, and 
none should guide the preacher's manner, except that 
he is standing, like Aaron between the living and the 
dead, a messenger sent from God to save men's souls. 

Written versus Extempore Discourse. 

Under this head we discuss the question, of the com- 
parative value of written and extempore discourse. We 
are bound to arrive at a wise and positive conclusion on 
this topic. The question arises only between the exclu- 
sive use of one or the other of the two methods. 

By a written sermon, we mean one in which every 
word from exordium to peroration, and through to the 
last word of impassioned eloquence, is penned to the 
paper. By an extempore sermon, we mean that in 
which no word is written, unless notes or a skeleton 
of thought ; but in which the speaker trusts entirely to 
the occasion for the word-clothing of his thoughts. I 
do not mean a discourse unpremeditated, the entire re- 



WRITTEN VERSUS EXTEMPORE DISCOURSE. 301 

suit of the moment's inspiration. Except in rare in- 
stances, where men have attained this power by labori- 
ous and incessant practice, an unpremeditated extempore 
discourse is a barren nullity, unworthy the name of a 
sermon and unfit for the Master's use. I do not speak 
of it. There is a style of extempore speaking to 
which we now have no reference, except to warn you 
against it. It is that in which without helps of any 
kind the man plunges into a speech, often as if indeed 
his only purpose were to make his way out again alive, 
utterly regardless of the distress he gives to his hearers 
by his convulsive efforts at self-preservation. This 
self-reliant system is adopted both by the best, and by 
the worst speakers. It is the impulsive resort of the 
best, whose minds are full and under control. It is the 
resource of the worst, who, by the powerful exertion it 
requires, hide the lack of matter and divert attention 
from their faults. u It is the chosen resource of pains- 
taking, earnest-loving zeal : or the cheap expedient of 
laziness and procrastination and a fluent tongue." But 
we have not now to do with those who abuse God's 
noblest gift, "the race of complacent mouthers, as 
Moore happily characterizes them, who without an idea, 
without an argument, without illustration or fact to be 
illustrated that seems pertinent to anything, can go on 
wearying their hearers with their inexhaustible talk." 

The comparison lies only between two sorts of ser- 
mons equally well prepared; one of them entirely 
formed in prepared sentences, but the other framed of 
skeleton ideas, waiting for the creative powers of the 
mind on the instant of speaking, to clothe them in 
appropriate language. If we must select between the 

26 



302 PREACHING. 

methods, much must be considered on either side of 
what would be a dilemma. 

Written Discourse. 

Writing makes an accurate speaker. 

A written sermon enables us to secure to the hearer 
the advantage of correct expression, lucid order, and 
well-considered argument. In enunciating the more 
important doctrines of the faith, the writer is pre- 
served from liability to unguarded looseness and am- 
biguity of statement. A higher degree of exactness 
and finish can be given to his sentences, and to his style 
in general, than the most proficient extempore speaker 
can attain. This consideration is important when we 
remember that the weekly sermon is the only literary 
exercise, enjoyed in many communities. A minister as 
often forms the taste as he does the doctrine of his flock. 
But this argument assumes more strength, when the 
weekly sermon is regarded as a mode of intellectual 
culture. Unless by the reading of the weekly news- 
papers, or discussions at the counters of a country store, 
many of our people have little opportunity for the ex- 
citation of thought, except the Sabbath sermon. Or- 
dinary newspapers are not models of careful or instruc- 
tive composition. It is of no small importance to the 
people therefore, that the sermon should be so framed 
as most effectually to arouse thought and cultivate a 
pure taste. To the class of thinkers in every con- 
gregation, a written discourse is obviously most at- 
tractive, because it secures to them uninterruptedly the 
luxury of connected and orderly ideas, expressed in 
well-considered language. " To these suggestions must 



WRITTEN DISCOURSE. 303 

be added that written sermons have proved themselves 
of inestimable value to our theological and religious 
literature. Burnet, although a master in extemporane- 
ous discourse, has said the practice of writing sermons 
has produced many volumes of the best that are ex- 
tant." "It has produced the greatest treasures of 
weighty good and sound sermons which ever the Church 
of God had." Moore, whose opinions on this subject I 
quote freely and with approval, because I find that his 
conclusions coincide entirely with my own, has re- 
marked " that our published sermons form more than 
half of the religious literature of our middle and upper 
classes." Perhaps the same remark does not apply 
with equal force to the condition of American society, 
where the press is more freely employed in the depart- 
ment of religious literature. Still it has force : for it 
must not be forgotten that a large amount of our popu- 
lar religious reading existed first in the shape of ser- 
mons or lectures. Nor must we forget, how great a 
loss the world has sustained by the fact that the impres- 
sion made by some of the most distinguished extempore 
preachers has been ephemeral or limited. If it had not 
been for Saint Luke's skill as a reporter, we should 
have known nothing of Saint Peter or Saint Paul as 
preachers. As early as the times of Origen, we have 
notices of short-hand writers employed in taking dowi 
sermons. They were licensed by public authority ; and, 
like those of our days, took a considerable license with 
the speaker's utterances ; of which we find complaint as 
early as A. D. 386. To these reports we are indebted 
for some of those noblest efforts of ancient pulpit elo- 
quence, which have charmed and edified the Church. 



304 PREACHING. 

Of the best sermons of Whitefield we have nothing left, 
except the tradition. " Robert Hall's sermons were of 
the highest order ; and the scant memorials of his ama- 
teur stenographers may sufficiently indicate how much 
the world has lost." Few published sermons of Sum- 
merfield remain. And yet the tradition of his holy 
humility, his loving, earnest, quickening utterances of 
the Gospel, his soul, wrapt in the power of his theme, 
thrilling and swaying and melting into passionate tears 
whole masses of almost breathless auditors, will live as 
one of the choicest memorials of the brightest days of 
the Methodist Church. Who, of those who heard it, has 
not uttered the regret that no lasting monument remains 
of that most masterly discourse which Bishop Mcllvaine 
once delivered in Rosse Chapel, in Gambler, on the 
subject of natural depravity. It was a discourse won- 
derfully lucid, discriminating, and fashioned to meet the 
difficulties felt by every heart. 

Nor can it be supposed that extempore discourses can 
reach all the exigencies of a congregation. There are 
times when doctrine must be stated with such precision, 
argument must assume such nicety of expression, diffi- 
culties must be encountered and avoided or overturned 
with such skilful handling, as no perfection of " ex- 
temporaneity" can attain. 

Extempore Discourse. 

To this array of argument the advocates of extem- 
porizing oppose an equal force. For it cannot be 
doubted that if the habit of writing makes an accurate 
speaker, the habit of extemporizing makes a ready 
speaker. And while the qualities do not indeed balance 



EXTEMPORE DISCOURSE. 305 

each other, yet the latter is the more effective. u While 
it is possible for great accurateness and precision both 
of style and language to be acquired by constant prac- 
tice as an extempore speaker, it must be acknowledged 
that the written sermon is superior in this respect. But 
then the very refinement and polish so gained is de- 
structive of that manly and unstudied naturalness of 
expression which is the normal type of all effective 
oratory." It is not a small point on this side of the 
question, that the Apostles and early Christians, with- 
out an exception, practised extemporaneous preaching. 
It may be said, " their sermons were inspirations in 
the highest sense :" and consequently the example has 
no force. But so were their writings inspirations in 
the same sense. The fact of inspiration will therefore 
determine nothing for or against the mode. ]Nor, if 
the Spirit had decided to approve of written rather 
than oral sermonizing, is there any reason why " Saint 
Peter should not have been instructed to write his 
sermon for the day of Pentecost, or Saint Paul to 
have declaimed from a manuscript, when he was at 
Mars' Hill" (Moore, 265). Early records favor the 
supposition that early preachers used unwritten, though 
not unpremeditated, addresses. There is no certainty 
as to the time when the practice of reading sermons 
was introduced into the Church. Bishop Burnet thinks 
it was at the beginning of the Reformation. Moore 
seems to think, and Phillips Brooks agrees in the state- 
ment, that it had its real origin about the time of the 
civil wars. They refer to a proclamation of Charles II. 
to the University of Cambridge, forbidding the custom 
of reading sermons, " as one which took its beginning 

26* 



306 PREACHING. 

from the disorders of the late times/ 5 but which, as 
being " a supine and slothful way of preaching/' he 
commands to be laid aside. 

A more important question is, in what portions of 
the Catholic Church does this habit of reading sermons 
prevail ? And the answer is largely in favor of ex- 
temporaneous discourse. For Bishop Burnet says, 
" Blading is peculiar to this nation, and is endured in 
no other." " In France we never hear of such a prac- 
tice ; (not quite accurate.) Even among Irish Protest- 
ants it is almost entirely laid aside. In Scotland it is 
abjured with almost superstitious dread ; (not accurate 
at the present time.) The Wesleyans of England 
would send back to the shopboard or the plough a 
candidate for the ministry who could not do without 
his notes ; whilst by other Dissenters the reading of a 
sermon is only tolerated as an infirmity, which they 
hope the preacher will be able to overcome, and which 
until he does he must use all lawful artifice to conceal." 
This is not quite true at present. 

In Boman Catholic countries, and amongst the most 
noted Boman Catholic preachers of our own country, 
discourse is either extempore, or intended to appear to 
be so. My observations in Italy lead me to think that 
as a rule Boman Catholics memorize their discourses. 
The Jesuit preachers declaim without notes : but it 
is not always extempore. 

As a general rule in the United States, except in 
portions of the Presbyterian and Congregational bodies 
and our own, written discourse is abjured. It is but 
fair, however, to say that some of the most thoughtful 
of those ministers are leaning towards written discourse. 



EXTEMPORE DISCOURSE. 307 

A very strong argument in favor of extemporaneous 
discourse is, that it is the popular form of all other 
addresses to the people. Among noted speakers in 
Congress, I remember none in the palmy days of the 
Senate, except Silas Wright of New York, who wrote 
his speeches, and he was accustomed to memorize 
them : even then gaining but little weight, although a 
strong debater and writing with a lucid, flowing, genial 
style. Webster often used very copious notes. But 
generally the most effective speakers were strictly ex- 
temporaneous. Such was Henry Clay, whose snuff-box 
served for note, division, and pause ; and was his only 
manuscript. Or Wise, whose startling torrent of words 
was too impetuous for pen to control or paper to hold. 
What pleader at the bar would write his speech ? What 
advocate would gain his cause before the people by 
measuring out his words in the dippings of his ink- 
stand ? And how soon would our religious and mass 
meetings disperse, those I mean which depend upon 
the warmth of emotion engendered, if speakers came 
to them with written discourses ! And yet there is an 
exception to these illustrations, which I mention, be- 
cause it exhibits so forcibly the value of written in 
comparison with extemporaneous discourses, and its 
purpose. In the Supreme Court of the United States 
arguments are frequently written : indeed, it is the 
general rule. Certainly little dependence is placed 
upon the power of the advocate to influence the decision 
of that Court by turns of eloquence. I have seen 
Webster and Preston and Badger, come all glowing 
from the stump harangue, to the bar of the Supreme 
Court, where in short order they emptied the spec- 



308 PREACHING. 

tators' benches. In the Supreme Court of Ohio all 
arguments are printed. The comparative value of 
written and extemporaneous discourse is thus shown, 
as being addressed, the one to the understanding, 
and the other to the heart. All other illustrations 
bear directly in favor of extempore discourse; and 
Walter Scott has said " it is conclusive against the 
frigid custom of reading sermons, that in any other 
mode of public speaking it would be held childish and 
absurd." 

Conclusion. 

What then results from the balancing of two such 
strong cases ? The two modes should be employed to- 
gether. Every Minister should faithfully devote him- 
self to the practice of both. They should be used, each 
in its own place ; each for its own important purposes : 
each as an instrument in the hands of the Spirit for 
reaching the wills of men through human intelligence 
or the passions. There are two ways of combining 
them. Both have advantages and patrons. 

Firtft. Let the body of the discourse be written out, 
leaving the exhortation to be filled up, or enlarged, as 
the spur of thought on the moment may suggest. It 
may be well to leave, here and there, parts in the dis- 
course which may or may not be enlarged upon extem- 
poraneously as the feelings of the moment may decide. 
If such points are not so prominent that the omission 
to extemporize will spoil the current of thought, and 
if the mind is thus left entirely free to utter itself spon- 
taneously or not, this habit may prove profitable. 

Until practice has made the student perfect, it will 
be well to provide a careful peroration for each dis- 



CONCLUSION. 309 

course. If at the time of preaching one's mind flows 
on beyond it, well. If not, the discourse will be equally 
finished and complete. 

Second. Let one sermon be carefully and thoroughly 
written out in all its particulars ; one each week. Pre- 
pare one sermon with equal care to be preached extem- 
pore. This habit will be more laborious than the other, 
and therefore probably better. The sermonizer will 
not so easily fall into careless ways : nor so soon trust 
himself to the inspiration of the moment, rather than 
to preparation. 

The advantages of using the two methods together 
or alternately, are these. 

They assist one another. " A habit of continually 
writing gives precision and clearness to the spoken 
sermon : the unconsciously acquired animation of ex- 
tempore utterance extends naturally to the written dis- 
course.^ By all means let even your written discourses 
be preached. 

The varying tastes of the people are thus better 
provided for. Prejudices on both sides are to be 
suited. 

Their wants will be better met. For it is evident 
that extempore discourse " has a licensed simplicity of 
illustration and a tolerated breaking up of the truth of 
God into small crumbs, w T hich though needful for un- 
educated people and the young, for whom we ought 
always to care, we should feel to be out of place in 
written serruons." 

This use of the two modes as mutual helps enables 
a preacher to diversify his addresses to the people. All 
need it. There is a tendency to run into ruts of thought 



3]0 PREACHING. 

and expression. The difference between the methods 
of extempore and written discourse helps to make these 
ruts less apparent. 

Can all men extemporize ? Can all habituate them- 
selves to it or force themselves into the habit? Does 
not one of Shakspeare's heroes tell us, how he has seen 

11 grave Clerks 
Shiver and grow pale ; 
Make periods in the midst of sentences ; 
Throttle their practised accents in their fear ; 
And, in conclusion, dumbly have broke off?" 

Moore reminds us, that Bishop Sanderson before a 
village audience made a mortifying failure. Tillotson 
on one occasion after ten minutes of beating and buffet- 
ing about to the great distress of himself and his audi- 
ence, at last brought his sermon to a close, declaring 
that nothing should induce him to make the attempt 
again. South, who was accustomed to trust to his 
memory, once venturing without his manuscript, broke 
down in the very opening of his sermon : and with the 
exclamation " Lord be merciful to our infirmities l" 
descended from the pulpit. 

These did indeed fail ; and so have many others on 
their first effort. It is rare that any one gets through 
this needle's eye on the first trial, without the loss of at 
least a little vanity. But how many instances have 
occurred of men who failing at first but determined to 
succeed have become completely successful. 

Sheridan, speaking for the first time in the House of 
Commons, was advised to abandon his parliamentary 
career. " Never !" he replied. u I know it is in me, 
and I am determined it shall come out." And it did 



coxcLusioy. 311 

come out. After his speech on Warren Hastings, Pitt 
moved the adjournment of the house, on the ground 
that they could not come to a sober judgment, being so 
under the wand of the Enchanter (Moore, 278, n.). 
Disraeli in his maiden speech in the Commons failed ; 
but when passing to his seat whispered, prophetically, 
"You will hear from me again." And the world has 
heard from him, in these days not only as a triumphant 
master in diplomacy but as an unequalled master of 
words in the contests of the Forum. 

Rev. Dr. Tyng, when Rector at Georgetown, soon 
after his Ordination, went into the pulpit intending to 
extemporize, but seeing Henry Clay, with other notable 
men in the congregation, became sick with excitement, 
and left his post. But from that day to this, he never 
allowed himself to be moved by any presence, and 
therefore has stood at the head of ready self-possessed 
extempore speakers, throughout his generation. 

There are circumstances, and certain audiences, among 
which even a comparatively ready man will be in great 
danger of breaking down. If the talent has been 
denied to any large number, how do we account for it 
that every Methodist Minister, all the non- conformists 
in England, most of the Scotch clergy, and a large 
number of our own both in England and America 
attain their skill ? They cannot all have extraordinary 
gifts of ready expression. No. They recognize the 
necessity of acquiring the art, and spare no pains. 
"Fit fabricando faber." The Artist is made by labor- 
ing at his art. Does not Quintilian say, " The faculty 
of extempore speaking is undoubtedly the fruit of 
study, and the full reward of unremitted labor." There 



312 PREACHING. 

may possibly be rare instances of men who cannot ex- 
press themselves extemporaneously; and a few more 
who never can become distinguished in it. But I 
doubt if any well-regulated mind, of fair acquirements 
and sufficient determination, need despair of attaining 
a fair measure of success. Practice, practice, habit, 
long habit, early training; these are the requisites. 
And yet I know that even in maturer years, after 
long disuse, the habit may be formed or revived so as, 
under favorable circumstances, to be a very respectable 
talent. 

Rules for Extemporizing. 

How may the habit of extempore speaking be ac- 
quired? Very judicious hints are given in a brief 
English Tract, " Brief hints for Holy Orders," the 
author of which is not named. Some of them fol- 
low; together with a few notes added from my own 
experience. 

" Give early attention to the reading aloud of works written 
in a lucid, simple, and powerful style ; and scrutinize in them 
the order of thought, the collocation of sentences, and the turn 
of expression." 

u Labor at the formation of a similar style of speaking ; cul- 
tivate it with care till it becomes natural and fluent, the habit 
of orderly thought, rather than the effort to assume the, appear- 
ance of order. To speak in an artificial and labored style must 
be an evil both in the extra labor required to become unnatural, 
and in the unnaturality when it is acquired." 

" Take care in acquiring an idea to have it definitely and un- 
equivocally formed in the mind, so that, instead of a merely 
hazy notion of it, you may be conscious that you possess it in 
certain distinct intelligible terms. A thought so accurately allo- 
cated in the mind will abide there ready for easy production. It 
has been inspected, docketed, and laid by for use." 

"Avoid in general conversation a loose, slovenly, and inaccu- 



RULES FOR EXTEMPORIZING. 313 

rate style of expression ; speak readily and somewhat fully, but 
without the assumption of pedantry or pomposity ; speak rather 
deliberately than otherwise; and aim at the expression of the 
idea in its native force, by the selection of words that naturally 
and spontaneously suggest themselves, rather than at the orna- 
menting of the thought by a studied verbosity. Try to speak 
accurately and neatly at all times : good speaking, like good 
manners, never sits well on any one as an extraordinary effort. 
It must be the unconstrained every-day habit of the man. This 
only is true and useful fluency." 

" At an early period of life, either before or immediately after 
the entrance on professional engagement, begin the custom of 
speaking consecutively for some time to a small audience. The 
cottage lecture presents the proper field for this effort, where the 
utmost simplicity and clearness are the desirable qualities ; and 
where the fear of criticism will not be sufficient to get up a 
nervous byplay in the mind on the score of vanity, so as to dis- 
tract the attention from the direct object. It is this secondary 
and almost separate working of the mind which causes the 
failure of many unpractised speakers. This disturbing usurpa- 
tion increases till it becomes the primary object of thought ; and 
then, as there is an end of thinking on the given subject, there 
must be an end of speaking on it, the orator breaks down. 
Vanity and self-seeking are the sources of this annoyance, and 
the great barriers to simple and powerful eloquence." 

" Commit no part of the subject in arranged sentences to 
memory, with the view of interweaving them at happy oppor- 
tunities ; this will defeat its object, and prevent the formation 
of a natural and easy style; it will balk and impede the flow of 
native nervous eloquence in the warming and exciting parts of 
the subject, and will often lead to entanglement, confusion, and 
failure. Bather, let the whole previous effort be given to the 
obtaining a clear comprehension of the passage to be explained, 
and the ideas which it contains, or which properly branch out 
of it ; and without descending or going out of the way to use 
metaphors for the sake of ornament, select beforehand some 
natural and simple illustrations, and dwell on them minutely. 
Instead of trusting that if the idea is once caught, the various 
features of the analogy or parallelism will readily come forth at 
the time required ; let the mind run calmly and deliberately 
o 27 



314 PREACHING. 

beforehand along the line of parallelism, seizing accurately the 
points of resemblance, so as to be sure that you actually have 
them, rather than a vague and shadowy semblance of an idea, 
the details of which will elude your grasp when you feel for it. 
No natural fluency and no oratorical art will supply the place 
of a clear conception of the subject about to be discussed; like 
the nebulous glare of some comets, that may exhibit a measure 
of circumambient splendor, it will be little satisfactory, while 
we look in vain and with weariness for the concentrated and 
accurately defined form of the luminary itself." 

Make a habit of translating aloud from one language 
to another ; giving a free translation to your wife or 
your friend. Translate from Latin to English, or from 
French or German into English. The result will be a 
habit of rapidly throwing a thought into appropriate 
language. Then, in extemporizing, when a thought 
suggests itself you will have nothing to do except to 
follow the course to which you have habituated your- 
self. Translate it from inarticulate into articulate lan- 
guage. It is said that it was Pitt's daily habit to 
translate aloud from the Classics into English at the 
breakfast table. 

When preparing to extemporize, never give a form 
of words to your thoughts such as that it will be neces- 
sary to remember the exact form of words. The reason 
is, that the two mental acts, composition and recollection, 
are wholly distinct : very probably they require the 
action of two different parts of the brain. However, 
experience shows that they cannot go on together, and 
wherever the two lines of brain work, composition and 
recollection, cross each other, confusion will occur, if 
not an entire breaking down. Either memorize the 
whole : or trust wholly to the creative power to clothe 
your ideas in words. 



RULES FOR EXTEMPORIZING. 315 

Think the thought as clearly as possible, even in 
words, if you please ; but when extemporizing re- 
member only the thought ; never attempt to remember 
the words. The greatest extempore speakers attain to 
a faculty of separate observation. It is not easy to 
describe it. They stand as it were on a separate and 
higher plane from their audience. Whilst they are 
speaking they watch the effect of their words and 
alter, amend, repeat, reform as they perceive that oc- 
casion requires. 

Some, like Dr. Tyng, carry this ability so far that, 
if an occasion requires it, they can speak words, whilst 
carrying on a distinct train of thought, to which the 
words are not related. I was present once in his lec- 
ture room, when he was lecturing grandly on Isaiah. 
Suddenly I was conscious that I did not catch his ideas. 
I was confused. The w T ords did not carry on the train 
in which I had been interested. I wondered whether 
I had been unconsciously dozing. As suddenly all 
became clear again ; and then I was certain (and very 
much ashamed of it) that I had lost myself, and only 
now had become fully awake. 

After the service, going into the Vestry, the Doctor 
said, " Did you notice how I lost myself?" " I noticed 
that I could not follow you for awhile, but thought 
that it was I who was lost." "No," he replied, "for a 
few minutes I forgot my subject entirely. I could not 
think to what point I had arrived in the exposition, 
nor indeed could I remember even the topic. It was 
necessary to go on talking for a time, until I could 
recover my subject, my train of thought, and my place 
in it." Marvellous power of separate observation ! 



PREACHING. 



CHAPTER XX. 

SPECIES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF SERMONS. 

Species. 

The species of an intended discourse is determined 
according to the method of treating the text, i.e., it ik 
expository, topical, or illustrative ; or, according to the 
result to be obtained, i.e., it is doctrinal, experimental, 
or practical. We have called them species because they 
are perfectly distinct, each from the other : and a dis- 
course may be perfect in itself under either species. 

Expository preaching is that which endeavors to draw 
out of an extended passage of Scripture, and to set 
forth the w T hole mind of the Spirit, as revealed in that 
passage. It endeavors, as far as possible, to treat all 
the subjects contained within the passage. For this 
purpose the text must include a number of topics, or 
of parts of one topic, sufficiently distinct from each 
other. It must generally be so extended that one 
portion may illustrate and explain the other. Chief 
use is to be made of the parts of the passage itself, 
not, as in some other cases, of parallel passages : and 
every idea in it is, if possible, to be developed. 

The object is not primarily to make only one im- 
316 



EXPOSITORY AND TOPICAL. 317 

pression on the mind. Whilst it is obviously important 
that one leading thought should give tone to the expo- 
sition , yet the object is not to make one impression 
only, but to associate each portion of the text with the 
idea that characterizes the text, and to enforce it upon 
the hearer's memory. This species of preaching is 
best suited for extemporaneous discourse, or for lec- 
tures, or for Bible-class instruction. It is the most 
valuable sort of preaching; but not generally well 
appreciated in our country. English preachers are 
noted, and deservedly distinguished, for this mode of 
instruction. 

Topical preaching is that which seizes on one idea in 
a text, and confines itself to proving, illustrating, or 
enforcing it. Its texts are short ; they contain only the 
subject. It explains the text by context, by scope, by 
parallel passages : but it is distinguished from all other 
species, in that it never leaves the one topic. It differs 
from exposition, because that may travel over as many 
topics as are included in the range of its text. But it 
has this advantage over exposition, for it gives and 
leaves an individual impression ; and as a general rule 
an auditory will not carry away more than one thought. 
It has an additional advantage, in that it gives great 
play to powers of illustration, and to forces of oratory. 
In it the Holy Spirit makes large use of the human 
instrument; and this species of discourse calls forth 
all human skill, ability, education, and information. 
It concentrates efforts. It is not well suited for 
extemporary discourse : but it is the best for written 
sermons. 

Illustrative preaching is that which hinges divine 
27* 



318 PREACHING. 

instruction on portions of the divine word which do 
not immediately, and without the commentary might 
not at all, convey it. This is accomplished either by 
association, or by accommodation. 

In this species of preaching it is required that the 
text shall distinctly cover the pivot of association, or 
the idea to be accommodated. It is always necessary 
to state that the instruction is not given by way of 
exposition, lest any one should suppose that the Holy 
Spirit intended to convey this particular instruction by 
the words which He employed. This mode of preach- 
ing renders the narratives of Scripture useful as in- 
structors. For example, the biography of Abraham 
may become an illustration of the character of the 
man of faith. It also allows of an allegorical use of 
Scripture for instruction ; thus, the life of Israel may 
illustrate the progress of Christian life. We may also 
use detached expressions to convey forcibly particular 
instruction. "They took Dagon and set him in his 
place again"* to enforce the question, " how turn ye 
again to the weak and beggarly elements?" "Ephraim 
is a cake not turned ;"f to enforce the evils of incon- 
sistency; or of incompleteness in religious character. 
Hearers are not likely to forget such texts, nor to 
forget the truth which was associated with them. This 
use should be rare. It should never so strain the real 
meaning of the text as to misuse it, or appear as if it 
were a witticism. Properly employed, this use has 
value. 

The species of a sermon may be determined by the 

* 1 Samuel v. 3. f Hosea vii. 8 



DOCTRINAL. 319 

result to be attained. Then another discrimination 
will be in place. 

Doctrinal Preaching, is that which is specifically en- 
gaged in drawing from Scripture one or more doctrinal 
truths, and setting them forth with precision and accu- 
racy. It is one of the most difficult sorts of preaching, 
because there is much danger of running into dry disqui- 
sition. It is necessary to define, to distinguish between 
shades of error, to express with logical precision. There 
is danger consequently of falling into the style of the 
schools and the lecture room. There is wonderful art in 
so interweaving discriminating doctrinal statements and 
proof, with illustration and practical suggestions, as will 
at the same time engage the attention, inform the un- 
derstanding, and warm the heart. Because of the diffi- 
culty, true doctrinal sermons have almost disappeared. 
We have become too well satisfied with plain doctrinal 
statement, instead of the good old practice of enforcing 
doctrine by sound argument. We have trusted too 
much to the reiteration of doctrinal formularies, instead 
of so engrafting the truth which lies under them into 
the minds of our people, that the doctrines become a part 
of their intellectual processes, and could, at any time, 
be accurately expressed by them in their own language. 
Doctrines should be implanted and made to grow in our 
people's thoughts. We should not be satisfied w T ith 
fastening them like ornaments around their necks. 
What we want is, not that our people shall talk in the 
language of a system, but that they shall intelligibly 
feel the truths of God. This can only be done by 
teaching ; and teaching is, not mere reiteration of bar- 
ren propositions, but it is the declaration of God's truth, 



320 PREACHING. 

in such a manner that the people easily understand what 
we are talking about. Then the proofs should be made 
so clear and forcible that they cannot reasonably question 
the truth, and illustrations made so apt that they cannot 
forget it. 

There is too much danger of being satisfied, if only 
our repetitions of Shibboleths have been so accurate and 
constant that no person in our congregation, man, woman, 
or child, will ever think of saying Sibboleth. We hear 
the terms Justification, Regeneration, Election, Sacra- 
mentarianism, High Churchism, and other symbolical 
expressions thrown back and forth like shuttle-cocks 
between the lips of persons who could give nothing but 
the most obscure declarations of obscure ideas, which 
they have formed about these deep questions. And yet 
these persons will sit in judgment on those who preach 
to them the way of life ; and possibly throw a whole 
Gospel sermon overboard with a toss of the head, and 
throw the preacher after it, because he omitted some 
favorite catch-word, or explained the truth without em- 
ploying their accustomed formulary. " They say he is 
a low Churchman/' " Indeed ! May I ask, What do 
you mean by High Churchism ?" " I do not know that 
I can exactly define it, but I know that I am too much 
of a gentleman to like anything that is low!" 

Doctrinal sermons are needed. But they are instruc- 
tions in doctrines, not in mere forms of speech: teach- 
ings of truths, not of mere expressions. I do not mean 
to say that formulas are unimportant. On the contrary, 
much of the clearness of our instruction will depend on 
clear statement, and we can hardly hope to improve 
upon the wisdom of the past in the matter of doctrinal 



DOCTRINAL. 321 

statement. But it should be impressed on our minds 
that to state doctrine is not to preach doctrine: any 
more than to state that Christ died for sinners is to 
preach Christ crucified. To say that Christ's sacrifice 
was vicarious is not a sufficient preaching of his all- 
sufficient atonement. To iterate and reiterate that we 
are justified by faith, is not a sufficient teaching of 
that complex doctrine of justification. For to teach it 
truly and fully we must explain the cause, which is 
God's love manifested through Christ's love ; the mode, 
which is accounting a sinner righteous on account of 
Christ's merits ; the means, which is a penitent sinner's 
simple reliance on the promise of God through Christ, 
which is faith ; and the inseparable consequence of jus- 
tification, which is a self-consecrated devotion to Christ's 
service, expressed by participation in the Sacraments, 
and by holy imitations of the Saviour. 

Care must therefore be taken, with proper regard to 
precision and clearness, to avoid technicalities and the 
language of schools. It is marvellous, how many of 
these words we use ; never remembering* how few of 
them convey any definite idea to a large number of our 
hearers. For example, u analogous, synonymous, met- 
aphorical, destiny, definition, retribution, vicarious," 

" Plain intelligible language is what we should aim at. We 
should never use a difficult word, when an easy one will express 
our meaning. Augustine asks : ' Of what use is a golden key, if 
it will not open what we wish ? And what is the harm of a 
wooden one, if it will accomplish this purpose ; since all we seek 
is to obtain access to what is concealed?' It is by conversing 
with our people, that we find out what words and phrases are 
really adapted to their understandings. The language used in 
ordinary conversation is the language natural to us ; and if men 
o* 



322 PREACHING. 

would but confine themselves to such language, their sermons 
would be both more intelligible and more weighty. In our city 
churches especially a larger amount of earnest simplicity is 
needed. Then there would be hope of numbering among our con- 
gregations the poor and uneducated, of whom there is oftentimes 
now so painful a dearth, within our Christian fellowship. These 
need to be taught in a language which can be understood ; and if 
they do not find it in our churches many will stay away, or seek 
it elsewhere. n * 

The text of a doctrinal sermon ought to cover a clear 
and full statement of the doctrine, or some essential 
portion of it. The words " Believe in the Lord Jesus 
Christ and thou shalt be saved," when used as the text 
of a doctrinal sermon, should not be employed to indi- 
cate the mode of salvation, but the instrument of re- 
ceiving it; a sermon not on the atonement, but on 
faith. "With the heart man belie veth unto righteous- 
ness; and with the mouth confession is made unto sal- 
vation." The first part of this text gives the character 
of a saving faith: the second gives the nature of a 
genuine profession of Christ. But the efficacy of faith, 
and the efficiency and necessity of a profession of it, are 
not taught by this portion but by a preceding part 
of the passage, viz. : " if thou shalt confess with thy 
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart 
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be 
saved." The whole is an instruction concerning rela- 
tions divinely established between the unseen grace and 
the external expression of it. The point I make is 
thh: that in selecting texts for doctrinal sermons, we 
must choose accurately those which state, or define, or 

* Oxenden, p. 134. 



DOCTRINAL. 323 

prove the doctrine. In topical sermons we may take 
those which suggest the truth ; but in doctrinal sermons 
we must take those which specifically teach it. 

In treating doctrinal texts we are at liberty to employ 
all the usual methods of explaining, proving, and en- 
forcing truth. Great care should be taken, whilst 
using technicalities (and only those which are absolutely 
necessary) to explain all such terms clearly. It is not 
enough to use technical synonymes. How will it help 
the matter to explain that regeneration is renewal; or 
that justification is forensic acquittal and restoration to 
privilege: or that the Atonement is a vicarious sacrifice? 
We must labor to get at and use language which the 
people understand. This difficulty is not easily appre- 
ciated by theological scholars, who have been accustomed 
to the terms of the schools; or by Christians who have 
been brought up from infancy in the language of re- 
ligion. Let any one try, for example, to explain to 
a Sunday-School of ordinary intelligence, the exact 
meaning of the term "broken heart;" one of the sim- 
plest of our common phrases. Its accommodated mean- 
ing we are familiar with. It is a figure of speech which 
has become part of religious language. But it is not 
so easy to describe it to one who never heard the term. 
It is singular that the term " new heart" so familiar to 
us, is not used in our version of the Xew Testament; 
and only once in the Old Testament: (Ezekiel xviii. 31). 

TheHbest doctrinal language for our sermons is that 
of our translation of the Bible ; and, next to it, that 
of the Prayer Book. Of the Prayer Book it is best 
to select our doctrinal language from those portions 
with which our people are most familiar : first, use 



324 PREACHING. 

the terms of the services; second, use those of the 
Catechism; and only lastly employ the terms of the 
Articles. 

An admirable plan for preaching on doctrinal sub- 
jects, is, to select texts which include some Article or 
some statement of the Catechism, and then to illus- 
trate the text by using the language of the Article or 
Catechism : analyzing each phrase, simplifying each 
statement, and giving to each a literal scriptural ex- 
pression. 

Experimental preaching engages itself entirely with 
Christian experience. It has to do with all degrees of 
the life of religion ; from its remote beginning in the 
first whisperings of the Spirit caught by a soul which 
is arrested in sin, to the sublimest manifestations of 
grace in a soul on the verge of exchanging faith for 
saintly fruition. It deals with all the phases of re- 
ligious experience ; questionings, hesitancies, anxieties, 
doubts, temptations, lapses, recoveries, excitements, cold- 
ness, raptures, despair. 

It is the application of Scripture to each case. It is 
the illustration of divine truth in the Word by divine 
truth as exhibited in religious life of Christians. It 
is the most difficult kind of preaching. It requires 
great familiarity with Scripture, with the secret move- 
ments of one's own heart, and with manifestation of 
religious action on the hearts of others. Meditation, 
Pastoral visiting, and the Biography of Saints, furnish 
the indispensable preparation for success in it. 

Practical preaching has to do with the guidance of 
conduct ; including both right motives and right acts. 
It deals with religion as it is manifested to men ; out- 



EXPERIMENTAL AND PRACTICAL. 325 

ward religion ; in opposition to experimental, which 
looks at religion solely as manifested to God, the 
hidden life of the soul. Practical preaching includes 
all relations, duties, responsibilities: instructs both rich 
and poor, the Sovereign and the subject, the master 
and the apprentice, the Parent and the child ; and all 
classes within these ranges. It applies principles of 
Christianity to uses of life. 

It requires familiarity with practical portions of 
Scripture, and with the principles of a strict moral 
philosophy, (familiarity with " Wayland's Moral Science" 
is earnestly recommended) : and in the preacher it re- 
quires common sense, tact, and knowledge of mankind. 
It is a very useful sort of preaching ; but too often 
neglected for mere doctrinal statements and exhorta- 
tions. It is highly appreciated by the people. The 
plainness which is requisite is readily borne • rather, is 
enjoyed. For there are a host of hearers, of all classes, 
who desire above all things to be told exactly what they 
ought to do, or, to leave undone. 

The plainest language is to be used ; not coarse, nor 
unrefined, nor undignified expressions ; but terms which 
everybody can understand without a commentary. For 
example, if one is preaching on the Eighth Command- 
ment, it is better to say " thou shalt not steal" than to 
say, "it is neither just nor neighborly, nor expedient, 
to appropriate to one's own use that which belongs to 
another." Falsehoods current in social life, or held to 
be excusable by the pressure of business competition, 
are much less easily exposed when we use, concerning 
them, the extenuating terms to which society and busi- 
ness is accustomed, than when we use the Bible terms 

28 



326 PREACHING. 

of " liar" or " thief." Many a man will go on using 
" expletives" without consciousness of wrong, who 
would suddenly be arrested in his sin, if he should 
hear " thou shalt not swear by heaven, nor by thy head, 
nor .by any other oath"; for such swearing is taking 
God's name in vain. 

For practical preaching the clearest and most direct 
terms are to be used ; terms which need not to be ex- 
plained. The people understand some things without 
a definition. Here, a spade is, not a flat, iron, paral- 
lelogram, with a handle of wood, an instrument by 
which one may turn over the soil ; but a spade is a 
spade. 

It is well to comment upon the final chapters of the 
JEpistles, treating them verse by verse. In this we 
explain by a sort of necessity each several virtue or 
vice. All such preaching is of course to be based on 
true Evangelism. 

11 St. Paul, and indeed all the inspired preachers, were very 
far from the opinion and practice of some who say, i only preach 
the true doctrines of religion and the practice will follow ; 'he 
,who is horn again will walk in newness of life, just as certainly 
and naturally as the living man will breathe, and the stream 
will flow down its channel ; let religion once get into the heart, 
and the love of all worldly pleasures will be driven out ; you 
need not urge and forbid, for these things will be abandoned of 
course.' To all this we say, Scripture and experience are against 
it. The Apostle exhorts Christians to every special duty, as 
though they might neglect them, and warns against every vice 
as though they might practice them. Those who have put on 
the new man are exhorted to cast off the works of darkness. 
Even as to theft, they say to the Christian, 'Let him that stole, 
steal no more.' The history of Christianity proves the necessity 
of this. So far from all Christians easily, naturally, and neces- 
sarily doing all good things, and renouncing all evil things, they 



CHARACTERISTICS. 327 

sometimes act so as to bring great reproach on religion. "When 
not thus addressed, but left to themselves, they do far worse. 
This is only an excuse for indolent, cowardly, and unfaithful 
ministers, who do not wish to take trouble, and subject them- 
selves to the odium of censuring particular vices of Christians, 
and pressing neglected duties. Dearly does the Church pay for 
such neglect, and the ministers thus failing only bring more 
trouble and mortification on themselves, and more reproach on 
the cause of religion."* 

Although these six are distinct species, yet (with the 
exception of the first and second, expository and topical) 
in preaching they are not to be kept distinct, as a gen- 
eral rule. Generally they run into each other : and 
the most efficient sermons are those in which there is 
an infusion of .doctrinal, experimental, and practical. 
It will be found most profitable, on the basis either of 
an exposition or a topic, to build by large illustration, 
a superstructure wisely mingled of doctrine, experience, 
and practice. Nor indeed is any discourse complete, 
which does not teach some truth of God's word, and 
apply it for the guidance of experience in a religious 
life, and for the profit of practical living. 

Characteristics. 

The characteristics of good preaching are given in 
the terms, Scriptural ; Decided ; Proportionate ; Dis- 
criminating ; Individualizing. 

Scriptural is that which is imbued with the spirit of 
Scripture. Every discourse ought to have a Scriptural 
tone, so that men may say, it is God, not man, who is 

* Bishop 3Ieade, p. 108. 



328 PREACHING. 

speaking. Scriptural quotations should be employed 
according to the purpose to be accomplished. 

In argument, or proof, Scripture is to be quoted ver- 
batim and directly, for example, this is so, for " it is 
written:" or because "the Holy Ghost saith:" or "God 
has declared." Every such quotation should be care- 
fully examined in the Version before being quoted, 
and should not vary from it, in an iota. If a Minister 
intends to vary from the translation, or the marginal 
reading, it is far better not to quote at all. Let him 
frankly say, " I am wiser than our translators, and I 
give you my version of the Word of God." 

In quoting Scripture for purposes of argument or 
proof, the least impressive method is to quote in a con- 
tinuous chain, without a break or a sign of junction, 
or an explanation of the difference in bearing of one 
or another on the point to be proved. Indeed, such 
quotations of Scripture in "bloc" are less interesting 
than a chain would be, for that may claim at least so 
much variety as is given by a succession of well-formed 
links. A fence, although it might effectually keep out 
intruders, and keep in those who have a fondness for 
erring, would be intolerable to the eye, were it not for 
the posts, which dissever and yet connect each length of 
rails. So a concordance of Scriptural texts, on any theme, 
may be very convincing to any one who will listen to or 
weigh the list; but it will be very wearying. On the con- 
trary, let each several passage when quoted carry before 
it some indication of its purpose. Let it be evident that 
the Preacher understands why he quotes it. Let there 
be a succession in the thought. Let each text be a step, 
and each step lead to a higher point in the argument. 



SCRIPTURAL. 329 

For example; expounding by Scripture, the text, 
u His name shall be called the Prince of Peace ;" and 
indicating the purpose of the texts which follow, let 
the Preacher give some such thoughts, as these. Thus 
he was known by all sacred writers from the times of 
the Evangelical Prophets, to the times when they wrote 
under the immediate influence of his peaceful kingdom. 
The Prophet foresaw his blessed Ministry of spiritual 
peace when he wrote, " the chastisement of our peace 
was upon him:" and the perpetuity of the mercy, when 
he wrote, " Xeither shall the covenant of my peace be 
removed :" and the universalitv of his corning; message 
of glad tidings, when he wrote, " He shall speak peace 
unto the people." It was the under-tone of this pro- 
phetic thought concerning Christ which was heard in 
Zechariah's song of the Advent, directing all eyes to 
him who should " guide our feet into the way of peace:" 
and this was the keynote of the Angels' anthem when 
they published " on earth peace, good will towards 
men." So our Saviour himself understood his message; 
for he says, " these things I have spoken, that ye might 
have peace." And almost the last accents of his part- 
ing benediction bore this loving strain, " my peace I 
leave with you." Xor did Apostles understand his 
mission otherwise. It was " the word which God sent 
unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus 
Christ," and their own experience testified, " Christ is 
our peace." And therefore their benediction, imitating 
the consolations of their Master, the Prince of Peace, 
remains ever the same, "The peace of God which 
passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and 
minds through Christ Jesus." 

28* 



330 PREACHING. 

In this use of Scripture, which is both proof and 
illustration, it is required that texts be employed in 
the sense in which they are written; never forced 
from or beyond their meaning; and always quoted 
accurately. 

Illustrative use of Scriptural texts. — This use of Scrip- 
ture in sermons is not only allowable but highly profit- 
able : either by allusion, or by employing Scripture 
phrases to convey our idea. For example ; speaking 
of Christ's presence with his people in all hours of 
severe trial, we might say, " Christ is present with his 
people as he was with the three Jewish confessors in 
the fiery furnace." This would be simple comparison. 
But it would be more effective to say, " in the midst 
of the fiery furnace there will always be found, walk- 
ing with them, One, having a form like unto the Son of 
Man." This is allusion ; and it is always more forcible 
than comparison : because it depends upon and takes for 
granted a hearer's knowledge, and therefore stimulates 
his mind. Again, " A Christian's approach to death 
is like Elisha's coming to the brink of Jordan : he 
needs the mantle of Elijah." Better. " Approaching 
the river of death, the Elijah's mantle of love to 
Christ and hope in him, caught by faith and wielded 
by prayer, will make a way for the dying pilgrim, dry 
shod through the depths of the river." This is the 
most attractive form of this use of Scripture; more 
impressive than any other and most delighted in by 
our congregations. 

In another form of illustrative use, we may employ 
Scriptural phrases to convey our meaning. As on the 
text, " Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion ; 



ILLUSTRATIVE USE. 331 

that turneth the shadow of death into the morning ; 
that calleth for the waters of the sea and poureth them 
out upon the face of the earth, the Lord is his name." 
Here is encouragement for your faith. "Seek him" 
who " calleth for the waters of the sea and poureth them 
out upon the earth," for " with him is the residue of 
the spirit," and " he shall descend" upon your soul, 
" as dew," u he shall fall as the small rain upon the 
tender grass and as showers that water the earth." 
" There shall no more be barrenness" in your heart, 
" nor a dry and thirsty land," for in that " wilderness 
shall waters break out, and streams in" that " desert ;" 
and it shall become " a garden of the Lord." " Seek 
him who turneth the shadow of death into the morn- 
ing," for he giveth " sight to the blind," and "he 
that believeth in Jesus shall not walk in darkness," 
"but shall have the light of life;" even now "until 
the day dawn and the shadows flee away," and " then, 
shall thy darkness be as the noonday," for " in the city 
that hath foundations," " the Lord God shall be thy 
everlasting light," and "thy God thy glory." 

The pleasantness of this use arises from the fact that 
we then speak in the language of the people, for the 
Bible is their one book. We use phrases entirely 
familiar to them. Great care must be taken, not to 
use Scriptural phrases as catch-words, they thus lose 
their meaning and impressiveness. Those passages are 
to be strictly avoided which irreligious men use irrev- 
erently. Care should be observed not to put into the 
mouths of Apostles, or Christ, or God, words which 
are not theirs, but ours. Allow the Divine Spirit to 
speak in the words which he has selected. For ex- 



332 PREACHING. 

ample. "The Saviour said, Approach ye poor and 
suffering. My service is no hardship, and my love 
will comfort every sorrow. With me the weary find 
eternal rest, and all the sons of want are blest." Such 
teaching is well enough ; but the fact is that our 
Saviour did not say that, but this, " Come unto me 
all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give 
you rest." 

Decided — There should be no possibility of mistak- 
ing the preacher's meaning. Statements should be clear 
and precise. The preacher should make up his mind 
on all points which he attempts to touch, before he 
touches them. People should never see that he is 
doubting. His subjects are to be well studied, then 
decided ; and the decision considered as settled, until 
some new light is thrown upon them. Even then his 
former decisions are not to be hastily unsettled, but the 
whole subject is to be studied again. At no time should 
he be in the position of holding an unformed opinion 
upon a vitally important subject. He should stick to 
that which was once formed after sufficient reflection, 
until he shall have found a better. 

At the same time a preacher, especially a young 
man, is not to be arrogant of his opinion. He is not to 
let the pronoun, I, stand too prominently in his teach- 
ing. State modestly, firmly, clearly, the views which 
are deemed to be truth, not as one's own views, but 
as truth. Never say, "I suppose it to be so and so," 
or "This is so, at least in my opinion or judgment." 
Such phrases create an unpleasant sense of insecurity 
in the hearer's mind; and weaken confidence in the 
teacher's ability to instruct. On controverted points, 



PROPOR TIONA TE. 333 

and where differences are allowable, let one's view of 
truth be stated as the truth, but not as if he were in- 
fallible. When convinced of having spoken what was 
erroneous, either as a fact or an opinion, never hesitate to 
acknowledge it frankly to the one who points it out, and 
thank hira for it. A public acknowledgment of a mis- 
take is only necessary, when wrong has been done by a 
public announcement. In such a case, the error must 
be corrected ; but it can generally be so done as not to 
destroy one's influence as a teacher. 

On great fundamental doctrines of the Gospel, let no 
undecided language be employed. Christian Preachers' 
sentiments, like the Apostles' converts, should be known 
and read of all men. 

Proportionate — The delivering of truths in their 
proportions, measured according to their relative im- 
portance. Truths are relatively important in their 
practical value to a congregation. All truths are to be 
preached, but with careful regard to this relative value. 
Xo truths are to be preached to the neglect of others. 
A proportionate preacher will not allow his sermons to 
run in the channel of any favorite doctrines or favorite 
theories. He will observe the analogy of faith ; mani- 
fest the value of all parts of the faith; lead his congre- 
gation to reverence all, but to listen most frequently to 
those which are most practical. For example, the doc- 
trine of the Trinity is equally important with the doc- 
trine of the Atonement in the scheme of salvation. 
But it is less important practically, and less often to be 
preached. The doctrine of the Sacraments is less im- 
portant in the scheme of Salvation than the doctrine 
of the Divine existence. But the doctrine of the Sacra- 



334 PREACHING. 

merits being of more practical value is to be more fre- 
quently preached. This point does not need further 
illustration, because its truth is obvious. We need 
only to bear in mind the danger we are in from the 
temptation of preaching too much in the line of our 
favorite studies. 

Discriminating — Rightly discerning between truths; 
and particularly measuring out to each class of hearers 
that which each needs. Consequently , we should keep 
clearly in mind, both the differences of truths, and the 
differences in character of each class of hearers, that 
which separates and distinguishes truth from truth, and 
character from character. 

A careless hearer is not always an infidel. All Uni- 
tarians do not in the same degree deny the Gospel doc- 
trines concerning our Lord Christ. A rich man is not 
necessarily worldly-minded. A poor man is not neces- 
sarily humble. An indifferent hearer is not always 
an indifferent thinker. A professing Christian is not 
always a spiritual child of God. Nor is every child 
of God at all times and equally steadfast, loving, duti- 
ful, hopeful. All these distinctions are to be kept in 
mind; sometimes drawn out; and discourse is to be 
fitted to and for them. 

Yet sermons must not be too discriminating, lest the 
force of exhortation be lost between the classes. All 
listeners belong to one of two classes. And this 
thought is to be kept prominently and distinctly before 
a congregation in every discourse. This is the most 
important discrimination; and the point of passing the 
line that divides between the one class and the other, 
must be kept as clear as is the noon-day sun when not 



DISCRIMINATING AND INDIVIDUALIZING. 335 

a cloud is visible. In general we will find that Pastoral 
visits furnish the best occasion for minute discrimina- 
tion. It is not wise to fill our discourses with these mi- 
nuter shades of difference : particularly we should avoid 
the effort to make discriminations so clear that the 
people will forget the distinction in the search after it. 

Individualizing — This is applying instructions to a 
congregation in such a way that without giving personal 
offence, individuals will take the instructions to them- 
selves. It is not done by singling out individuals, or 
by describing persons : but by depicting classes with 
such fidelity that every one in it will see himself por- 
trayed. It is not preaching to persons, but characters. 
On this art depends much of the impression of what 
is known as a minister's sympathy with his congrega- 
tion. Sermons which will suit all congregations alike 
produce comparatively little effect on the hearts of any. 
A congregation should feel that the sermon is meant for 
them ; and individual characters should be so portrayed 
as to compel individuals to feel that the word describes 
them. Sermons should therefore be written, not as in a 
Theological school, from a watch-tower of general ob- 
servation, but from particular experiences in Pastoral 
visiting. 

Occasional allusions to passing events in which a 
congregation is interested will tend to increase this 
effect. There should not be too much of this class of 
allusion, lest the preaching be secularized. Nor should 
there be allusions to events in which only individuals 
are interested; lest the preaching become personal. 
But there can hardly be too much allusion to each 
ecclesiastical season as it passes by. 



336 PREACHING. 

Practical application. 

A sermon is best concluded by a few terse remarks, 
deduced legitimately from the previous thoughts, and 
made to bear strongly on individual character; more 
particularly on that class of individuality which the 
subject has brought into consideration. Here close ob- 
servation of human nature is found to be most valuable 
to a clergyman. The character and motives of others 
should be studied through the medium of a man's ex- 
perience of his own heart : and if he then deals faith- 
fully in a practical application of his subject to the 
various evils that he finds within himself, his instruc- 
tion will not fall pointless on the hearts of others. 
(Moore.) General charges of sin fail to convince: 
they are readily met and neutralized by an unthinking 
admission of their truth. But when an accurate delin- 
eation of specific character is brought in connection 
with a close investigation of the secret workings of the 
heart there is a force which few can resist, and which 
brings forth the petulant cry, "personal preaching." 
A well-known preacher of great shrewdness was once 

addressed by a hearer, "Mr. , you certainly say 

strong things." He replied, "'Yes, sir, I do: I have 
found by experience that the people can dilute them 
for themselves." 



PREACHING. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

CHOICE AND TREATMENT OF TEXTS. 

Definition. — A Text is that portion of Scripture 
which is to lead and bound our own thoughts and 
those of our hearers. If texture is a thing woven, text 
ought to mean that on which it is woven : and such is 
its meaning in reference to the ideas of a sermon. A 
text and a motto are two different things. Mottoes 
are not to be entirely discarded, if suggestive of a 
Scriptural and Gospel theme.* Texts are not indis- 
pensable to a Scripture sermon. But it is safer and 
best to use and preach from texts. The character and 
value of a sermon will generally depend on the choice 
of the text. " We should choose it not for the world 
at large, not for the press, but for the congregation to 
which we minister." u Some sermons are' like a letter 
put in the post-office, but addressed to no one." A 
text should comprehend the subject, and present it in 
a striking manner. 

Choice. 

In choosing a text, prayer is our first resource. We 
should pray earnestly to be rightly directed in selecting 

* Conceits are to be avoided. Porter, pp. 35-38; Vinet, pp. 
96, 97. 

P 29 337 



338 PREACHING. 

topics which will be of practical value to our people. 
We do .not designedly shoot arrows at a venture ; and 
therefore we desire to be guided by the Holy Spirit's 
omniscient insight of character, so that our word may 
always enter into some "joint of the harness." Ser- 
mons are sure to do good work, when, from the text to 
the final sentence they are the offspring of a heart 
" praying always." 

Many sources of suggestion present themselves. We 
need variety in our preaching. That is the most whole- 
some which follows naturally from the variety of Bible 
subjects. Porter tells us of a preacher who, for var- 
iety's sake, chose the subject of "vaccination" on 
one Sunday : and on the next the " beauties of a 
New England Summer." But we should observe 
the prevailing current of religious thought at the time 
when we are writing ; nor should we attempt to row 
against it without good reason. For example, a great 
calamity may have affected our community or congre- 
gation, it would call for thoughts on death and the 
judgment. An attempt may have been made by a 
City Council, or a Railroad Corporation, to violate a 
graveyard. It has offended the good sense, or the 
religious instincts of our community. It would prop- 
erly call for a sermon on the topic ; not indeed of the 
outrage, but on the " sacredness of the grave." 

If the current thought of the day is running towards 
some attractive heresy, whilst it may not be wise to enter 
into the controversy, lest thereby more currency be given 
to the evil, it will be wise to preach on the opposite 
truth ; thus strengthening one's own congregation to 
withstand, and, at the same time, counteracting the error. 



SUGGESTIONS OF TEXTS. 339 

If the current of Church thought is towards a par- 
ticular Ecclesiastical season, one's texts and subjects 
should harmonize therewith. Certainly a sermon on 
the Crucifixion does not seem appropriate on Christmas 
day. 

Beading. — Many good suggestions of subjects come 
to us whilst we are reading. There is a happy fresh- 
ness about all such texts. 

A sense of want, after having preached a sermon, 
suggests a subject for the next. The impression that 
something was needed to complete the sermon just 
delivered, will direct our studies for the next. 

Suggestions of subjects or texts arising during Pas- 
toral visitations are the most valuable of all. Special 
care, however, is to be taken, in choosing such texts, 
to avoid the appearance of aiming at an individual 
fault, or alluding to a person. We should wait for an 
occasion, when the lessons or Scriptures read, or cir- 
cumstances, apart from the special case, naturally sug- 
gest a discourse on the particular error to be corrected, or 
circumstance to be availed of. No scruple need be felt 
in answering doubts, or spiritual difficulties in a sermon, 
or treating subjects of spiritual experience, suggested by 
Pastoral visitations : because on such topics inquirers 
are really anxious for instruction, and because our 
sermons when referring to them can scarcely be sup- 
posed to have a personal or individual bearing. It is 
the constant testimony of Pastors that sermons thus 
suggested by conversations in their people's homes, and 
relating to personal religious experience, are more valu- 
able than any other. And it is singular that such 
topics, although often supposed to be suited to only a 



340 PREACHING. 

few, are found to reach a very large class of cases. I\ 
suggests the inquiry, whether there may not be epi- 
demics in the spiritual world. At times certain dis- 
eases prevail. At times a certain class of scepticism 
is everywhere current. At times in the moral world 
almost all popular sin seems to run into one special 
class of vices. So, at times, there may be an epidemic 
of spiritual evils. The Pastor finding the symptoms 
developed in two or three instances may be quite sure 
that his remedies, if wisely applied to them, will benefit 
many w T hose need has not been made known to him. 

Approaching services. — The services for the approach- 
ing Sunday are a copious reservoir of suggestions for 
texts and topics. The Lessons, Psalms, Epistle, Gospel, 
and Collects give an unfailing supply of variety of 
theme. It is wise to employ these suggestions, because 
our people are already prepared to sympathize with 
this course of religious contemplations. Their minds 
easily flow on from the service to thoughts in the 
sermon appropriate to the season. It saves us all 
trouble of lengthy introductions, for their suffrages are 
already secured for our theme. Such harmony between 
the Pulpit and Desk is expected by Episcopalians. It 
is always expected on the greater Festivals and Easts. 

Still further it is very wise and beneficial to keep up 
a parallelism between the instructions given in Sunday- 
School and Bible Classes, and the seasons of the Church. 
The late Bishop of Oxford (Wilberforce) in his addresses 
to the Candidates of his Diocese, speaks forcibly on this 
topic. I shall often quote these addresses with approval, 
for a vein of wonderful spirituality of view of our 
Ministerial work, and a loving heartiness in looking 



SUGGESTIONS OF TEXTS. 34 1 

at it, runs through all of them. " Our people ought 
to be so trained as to refuse to listen to the first whis- 
pered falsehood, and it is this training which the Church 
has provided for them. This is the meaning of that 
wise forethought, which has appointed Festivals for 
keeping ever in remembrance those leading events 
and acts of our blessed Master's life, out of which 
all the great truths of our Creed naturally unfold 
themselves. " 

With these views our own Masters in the pulpit 
agree. Phillips Brooks says : 

" It is not well to float over the whole sea of truth, and plunge 
here and there, like a gull, on any subject that suits your mood. 
No other instruction was ever given so. Hearers have not the 
least idea as they go to church what you will preach to them 
about to-day : it is hopeless for them to try to get ready for 
your preaching." 

" The great procession of the Ecclesiastical Year, sacred to 
our best human instincts with the accumulated reverence of 
ages, leads those who walk in it, at least once every year, past 
all the great Christian facts. The Church year too preserves 
the personality of our religion. It is concrete and picturesque. 
The historical Jesus is forever there. It lays each life down 
beside the perfect" life, that it may see at once its imperfection 
and its hope."* 

The Course of the Ecclesiastical Year is certainly a 
fertile source of delightful topics for texts and themes. 
It is perennial; never fails. The fountain is ever fresh 
and full ; nor can any Teacher exhaust it. 

As an illustration note the obvious suggestions of the 
first of these seasons, 

* Phillips Brooks on Preaching, p. 91. 
29* 



342 PREACHING. 

Advent.— The ramifications, extensions, and applica- 
tions of these lines of thought, are almost innu- 
merable. 

Christ's first coming. Its history, purpose, 
results ; a fulfilment of prophecies. 

His second coming ; its story, object, issues ; 
the prophecies relating to it. 
The judgment of the world. 
The judgment of men. 
The judgment experimentally considered. 
The spiritual aspect of Christ's advent to the 
heart. 
Illustrative subjects for Courses for the four Sundays. 
"The desire of all nations shall come." 

1 . The Messiah ; Israel's desire. 

2. The Messiah ; a Believer's desire. 

3. The Messiah; all peoples' desire, as Restorer 
and Judge. 

4. The Messiah. Universally desired as an 
historical fact proved by tradition, ancient poetry, 
mythology, as well as history. 

A Course on the several appearances of Christ, as 

1. The Law-giver on Mount Sinai. 

2. The Redeemer on Mount Calvary. 

3. The God-man on Mount Tabor. 

4. The Restorer on the Mount of Olives. 

A Course of Sermons for Advent on the Spiritual 
Seed- work. 

1. The Sowing; preparations for producing re- 
ligious life. 

2. The Blade; commencement of religious life. 

3. The Ear; its growth and encouragement. 



SUGGESTIONS OF TEXTS. 



343 



4. The Full corn; the characteristics of a ripe 
religion. 
A Course of Sermons upon the four Collects: 

1. Repentance, as related to the Advent. 

2. Preachings as related to the Advent. 

3. The Holy Spirit's relations to the Advent. 

4. Renewed effort of Christians in its relations 
to the Advent. 

Topics for Seasons commemorating the Life of Christ : 
Christmas. — The Incarnation of Christ. Christ 
present. 

Reflection; Self-examination. 
Consecration to Christ, Baptism, 

the Covenant of Grace. 
Resolution. Preparation for new 
work. The New Year of 
Heaven. 
Epiphany. — Christ's Kingdom in all its aspects. 



New-Year's eve. 
Circumcision. 

New Year's day. 



Ash -Wednesday. 
Lent. 



Good-Friday. 



Repentance. 

Sin in all views, original and 

actual. 
The Cross, chiefly as seen by a 
repentant sinner : occasional 
glimpses of victory and 
glory. 
Easter. — Christ's resurrection : The Doctrine ; its 

proofs. The future state. Heaven. 
Ascension. — Christ's offices. His Kingship completing 
the Mediatorial work. Our condition as subjects. 
Whit-Sunday. — The Holy Ghost: His Person; Di- 
vinity; and offices. 
Trinity. — The Tri-Unity. Arguments and illustra- 



344 PREACHING. 

tions are unnumbered : the Scriptural ; positive 
and incidental: the argument from reason: from 
analogy: from history: from tradition: from 
necessity, as required by the Harmony of Divine 
Attributes; as required by the Harmony of 
Divine offices in the work of Salvation.* 
Sundays afteb Trinity. — The subjects appropri- 
ate are particular morality and practical religion in its 
details, based upon the completed scheme of Salvation 
as revealed to us in the offices of the Father, the Son, 
and the Holy Ghost as one God, that is, in the Trinity. 
By Courses of Sermons, on the Ecclesiastical Year, a 
text may be carried through all the main seasons; for 
example, " Behold your King !" In the manger, 
Christmas. At the manifestation, Epiphany. Un- 
der temptation, Lent. Before Pilate and on the 
Cross, Good-Friday. Bursting from bonds of death, 
Easter. Seated on His throne, Ascension. Sending 
the Holy Ghost, Whit-Sunday. 

Or by a motto. " Who is this ?" or " Seen of Angels ;" 
or illustrative: "Yet doth He devise means that his 
banished be not expelled from Him." 

A Course of Historical Sermons carried through the 
Seasons of the Ecclesiastical Year, showing the history 
of the Church of God : from the Old Testament, the 
Acts, and the Epistle to the Hebrews; showing the an- 
ticipations and realizations of the Gospel system. 

A Course of Biographical Sermons ;f Joseph, Aaron, 
Eli, Gideon, Ruth, and others. 

* Dwight's Sermons will aid in studying this theme, 
f Giving characteristics of a godly life. 



LENGTH OF TEXTS. 345 

The Parables and Miracles; the Epistles; or the 
Psalms, afford good topics for sermons in a series, to be 
occasionally delivered. They are especially serviceable 
for lectures. 

Set courses of sermons on one subject are not ad- 
visable. They become prolix, exhausting, wearisome. 
Courses of sermons serve the best purpose when the 
writer keeps the subject on hand, continuing it from 
time to time when he feels particularly drawn towards 
it, or when nothing more pressing engages attention. 
For example, a Course on the Moral law as illustrated 
by practical religion, as it is exhibited in the precepts 
of the Epistles, might be kept ready at any time to 
attract one's thought and pen. It is not wise to go 
through the whole ten Commandments, in imperative 
succession, Sunday after Sunday, as a teacher might go 
through the Catechism. But let them be treated in 
regular order, determining the time for each by exigen- 
cies of occasions as they arise. 

The Length of a Text should be regulated according 
to the method which you are to pursue in your dis- 
course, whether topical or expository. A Text must 
cover the whole topic, or topics, of a discourse, and no 
more. The shorter a text is, the better, for remem- 
brance. Bishop Burnet has some very useful remarks 
on this theme. He says : 

"The plainer a text is in itself, the sooner it is cleared, and 
the fuller it is of matter of instruction ; and therefore such 
ought to be chosen for common auditories. Many will remem- 
ber the text, that remember nothing else ; therefore such a 
choice should be made, as may at least put a weighty and 
speaking sentence of the Scriptures upon the memories of the 
people. A sermon should be made for a text, and not a text 
p* 



346 PREACHING. 

found out for a sermon. Great care should be also had, both in 
opening the text, and of that which arises from it, to illustrate 
them by concurrent passages of Scripture. A text being opened, 
then the point upon which the sermon is to run is to be opened ; 
and it will be the better heard and understood, if there is but 
one point in a sermon ; so that one head, and only one, is well 
stated, and fully set out. In this, great regard is to be had to 
the nature of the auditory. Too close a thread of reasoning, 
too great an abstraction of thought, too sublime and too meta- 
physical a strain, are suitable to very few auditories, if to any 
at all. Things must be put in a clear light and brought out in 
as short periods and in as plain words as may be." 

Mode of studying a text 

Examine the original. Translate the text for your- 
self. After thus satisfying yourself of the writer's 
meaning ; examine the English translation. I do not 
mean merely read it ; but examine it carefully by the 
aid of dictionaries, not of commentaries. The object is 
to find out what meaning the translators put upon the 
text. It is necessary therefore to discover the " usus 
loquendi" in their day. Such books as Richardson's 
Dictionary in tracing the history of words and Trench's 
Synonymes, will help in this inquiry, and throw light 
on the true meaning. Then read the context carefully. 
Take Angus' rules as a guide : study the words ;• the 
words in their place in the sentence ; the words in con- 
nection with the writer's scope ; the words in connec- 
tion with other parts of Scripture. Then, and not 
until then, read one or two approved expositions; 
which will give an idea of the meaning as seen by 
others. This is what we are trying to get at, first by 
our own study and reflections : and next by comparing 
our views with those of the learned translators, and 



STUDYING TEXTS. 347 

other competent commentators. Avoid reading too 
many authors. Only enough should be read to enable 
a student to correct any error into which he may chance 
to have fallen, from imperfect study or reflection. 
Locke says, " Many a man who was pretty well 
satisfied as to the meaning of a text, has, by consult- 
ing commentators, quite lost the sense of it." On the 
other hand, Cowper shows the evil of not endeavoring 
to correct any error arising from prejudice, whim, or 
caprice : 

"When some hypothesis absurd and vain 
Has filled with all its fumes a critic's brain, 
The text, that sorts not with his darling whim, 
Though plain to others is obscure to him." 

Let expositors be studied judiciously as spurs and 
bridle, not as crutches for idleness or weakness. 
Having thus determined what is the real meaning 
of the text, next, decide precisely how much of the 
text is needed for use. Take such portion, use it for 
the purpose, and stick to it. 

By such a method a student will preserve originality 
of thought, as well as freedom from erroneous inter- 
pretations. Idiosyncrasies, or partialities, either theo- 
logical or mental, in explaining Scripture, are abhorrent. 
These are avoided by frank comparison of one's own 
views with those of standard writers. But freshness 
and originality are exceedingly desirable. And these 
are secured by the habit of studying the text from 
the original, with no other help than that which is 
necessary to discover the original meaning of the 
words used by the writer to convey the Holy Spirit's 
intention. 



348 PREACHING. 

Treatment of the text. 

An incidental, indeed a primary query, is, shall the 
text be treated at all ; or shall it be used simply as an 
introduction to the treatment of a topic? To this 
question Bishop Mcllvaine replies, " Always write on 
a text; even when you treat a subject." My expe- 
rience leads to entire concurrence in this opinion. The 
reasons are : 

1. That Scripture, God's word, is the theme. He 
expects us always to divine and divide his truth. 

2. Variety for the sake of one's congregation de- 
mands the treatment of texts, not the consideration of 
subjects; for subjects may be exhausted, but texts are 
inexhaustible. - 

3. The use of texts affords variety in the treatment 
of recurring subjects. It enables one to select parts 
of a subject, and to elucidate each part; and thus 
without wearisomeness, in the course of time, or by a 
series of sermons, to make specific all the parts. Vinet 
does not think so :* but Mcllvaine is a wiser guide. 
Treat every subject by means of a text,*and according to 
the suggestions of the text. Bishop Mcllvaine gave me 
this advice, soon after my entrance on duty as a Rector. 
I recommend the rule, not only by the weight of his 
testimony, but also by whatever value there may be in 
this record of thirty years' experience. It is a rule 
which wears well, and from it I have never varied. 

As an illustration of the meaning; suppose that one 
desires to preach on the IX. Article of Religion. It is 

* Vinet, pp. 98, 99. 



TREATMENT OF TEXTS. 349 

dry enough as an Article. Very little juice in it. Scho- 
lasticism has desiccated it ; leaving only threads of 
thought; as linen out of flax. But use Isaiah i. 5 for 
a text, which contains the whole Article : and see how 
instantly it becomes full of life and light and interest. 
"The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint. " 
"The whole head sick:" the mind disordered and 
corrupted, faculties perverted, working irregularly and 
uncertainly; imagination depraved, fears exaggerated, 
hoj3es depressed, will unsteady. " The whole heart 
faint:" not dead, but faint; the affections are faint, they 
have lost their power, lost their direction, lost their true 
use. "The Ox knoweth his owner, (has a sound head) 
and the Ass his Master's crib; (has a strong heart) but 
Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider," 
(has neither head nor heart). This is the actual state 
of mankind, as we know it. Illustrated by Scriptural 
proofs; by examples from biography and narrative; 
by appeals to experience. " Very far gone from orig- 
inal righteousness," the Article says. It is not a result 
of following example: but it is exhibited prior to the 
realization of the force of example, and is universal; 
consequently it is an "original fault and corruption." 

If we desire to go further, in discussing the truth, it 
is easy to show by the comparison employed in the 
text, that this condition of mental aberration and heart- 
weakness is naturally displeasing to God ; and therefore 
must be corrected, that is, regenerated, before one can 
be at peace with God. Still further; the fault of it is 
so adhesive to the soul as that it remains to plague even 
those who are regenerated. " Israel, even the Prince 
with God," doth not know: "My people," even my 

30 



350 PREACHING. 

people, do not consider ! Thus you have found the 
whole Article in the Text. 

Texts are always fruitful of thought. When studied 
by comparison of Scripture with Scripture, the fruit- 
fulness ^s multiplied. Subjects are treated by purely 
logical or philosophical methods, and therefore by uni- 
form trains of investigation. But if an apt text is 
chosen, and its natural suggestions are followed, a 
Preacher is almost of necessity led into variety, under 
the charming influence of association of ideas. 

I quote from " Brief Hints :" 

" Let the text be studied not to ascertain what may be made of 
it by accommodation or by spiritualizing, but to bring forth ex- 
clusively that which God the Holy Spirit, in connection with the 
whole line of thought in that chapter, really intended to say, or 
rather has said, in that particular sentence, in the best possible 
way in which it could be said by infinite wisdom to convey prof- 
itable thought to a finite mind. This strict interpretation is the 
only justifiable mode of dealing with the Word of God. It will 
amply repay the effort, by the gradual formation of a sound and 
undeceivable judgment in after-life, and is one of the best safe- 
guards against enthusiastic error." 

' ' Like the trigonometrical survey of a country, every text 
thus thoroughly examined is a well-ascertained base, preliminary 
to another measurement, and the proceeding goes on systematic- 
ally, with little liability to error; and with the power of check- 
ing and correcting errors which do occur, until the whole district 
is measured and mapped out in detail, and the general result 
placed before the eye in a way capable of being referred through 
all the steps of the process, to the original germs of thought." 

Bishop Auer once said to me, that he was accustomed 
in Basle to analyze each writing, especially the Epistles, 
thoroughly; so that he could tell the whole line of ar- 
gument and illustration; he knew the position of each 



TREATMENT OF TEXTS. 351 

text with what went before and came behind it: so that 
at any moment, he could tell concerning any text, what 
were its bearings and relations. Consequently he was 
always ready to preach; and to give what he believed 
to be the mind of the Spirit on any text within the 
range of his studies. 

Scheme or Skeleton. 

The preparation of the plan of a sermon is of first 
importance. The character of a discourse depends on 
itj whether the scheme be written out, or merely thought 
out. Its unity, purpose, power of impressing any one 
idea, depend upon the distinctness of the plan as con- 
ceived before the discourse is begun. What would be 
thought of an Architect who should begin to build, 
without knowing whether his foundation was to carry 
one story or five ? And what sort of impression would 
his building make were it erected without rules of order 
and irrespective of the fitness of things ? Or how could 
a Lawyer win his cause were his witnesses brought in 
pell-mell, and his argument thrown at the jury or the 
Bench, piecemeal, having neither beginning, middle, 
nor end? Sermons uttered on the spur of the mo- 
ment often exhibit the want of well-considered plan. 
Even written sermons sometimes show extempore 
derangement. 

In the first place let the thinker kneel down and 
ask God's guidance in the formation of his plan, con- 
sidering how much of the effect of his sermon will 
depend on the arrangement of it. 

In the next place let the scheme be a clear, distinct, 
and positive line of thought : starting from a well- 



352 PREACHING. 

defined point, and leading by a well-defined road, to a 
defined result. Some make merry with the idea of 
having a skeleton always present to the mind's eye. 
But a physician will tells us that on the perfection of 
the skeleton depends the functional perfection of the 
man, And it does not require a very learned Teacher 
to inform a student, that unless all his thoughts upon 
a text shall be arranged with like harmony, symmetry y 
and mutual dependence of parts, to that which signal- 
izes Divine skill in preparing the bones to bring out 
the beauty of a man, they will never present that per- 
fect truth which God has prepared to be worked out 
from scattered elements in the Divine Word. Let the 
scheme be a thorough analysis of the text and theme. 
The whole course of thought, should be arranged, by 
putting every important idea in its order and place. 
The general idea is as follows : 

1. Introduction or exordium. 

2. Doctrine, or exposition and teaching. 

3. Practice, or application to the hearers, 

4. Exhortation or Peroration. 

The Introduction should be direct ; growing out of 
the theme or text, or surrounding circumstances. The 
object is to gain thereby the suffrages and hearts of our 
hearers. It should be short and attractive, leading 
directly to the theme. 

Doctrine, — This is a technical phrase, meaning that 
which is to be taught in the body of the discourse : it 
should be a clear, full, and satisfactory exposition of 
the theme. 

Practice is the making use of every important truth 
which occurs in considering the doctrine. 



TREATMENT OF TEXTS. 353 

Exhortation. — In general, the exhortation ought to 
seize the main theme, rouse the passions by reflections 
on it, and so lead the Will to action, in the line which 
the "Practice" has already suggested. 

This outline is given, not as an iron rule, but only 
as a guide to thought. Certainly the outline should 
not appear in the sermon. A pencil sketch may be 
necessary before a great picture can grow out of it ; 
but the grandest painting by Raphael or Rubens would 
be spoiled were one to see the crayon lines beneath the 
coloring. ]S"or should every sermon follow the same 
lines. That would be a -terrible monotony. Sometimes 
the best exordium is a simple announcement of the 
theme. Sometimes " doctrine," sometimes " practice" 
will be the body of a discourse. Sometimes a judicious 
silence is the happiest peroration. The outline is in- 
tended to be a guide, not a rule ; a living helper to 
direct and encourage our thinking, not a turnpike road 
over which we shall forever jog, jolting out thoughts 
by one unvarying jarring of the wheels over rough 
stones. 



30* 



PREACHING. 
CHAPTER XXII. 

PREPARATION FOR THE DUTY. 

Prayer. 

When preparing to write a Sermon, again pray. One 
can write profitably only under a sense of the impor- 
tance of his vocation and of its necessity, and of his 
responsibility to God. The very idea of the divine 
authority of that vocation, and the feeling that one 
has been called of God to it, will naturally lead, should 
necessarily induce, a Minister to resort to the mercy- 
seat previously to engaging in this momentous duty. 
The Holy Spirit must needs be invoked on our study, 
if we hope for success in it. 

But we must combine study with prayer. 

" I have been cured,' ' says Mr. Cecil, " of expecting the Holy 
Spirit's influence without due preparation on our part, by ob- 
serving ho.w men preach that take up that error. We must 
combine Luther with Saint Paul. ' Bene orasse, est bene stu- 
duisse,' must be united with l give thyself wholly to these things 
that thy profiting may appear to all."' "Well does one say, 
c God will curse that man's labors who is found in the world all 
the week, and then on the afternoon of Saturday goes to his 
study ; whereas, God knows, that time were little enough to 
pray in, and weep in, and get his heart in a fit frame for the 
duties of the approaching Sabbath. Such an one must soon 
354 



STUDY AS A PREPARATION. 355 

come to the contempt which he justly merits. Unlike the wise 
householder, he has no treasure out of which to bring forth 
things new and old. The old, indeed, always comes forth, but 
where is the new?' " 

Says Bridges, " Except there be a gathering proportionate to 
the expenditure, there can be no store of knowledge laid in for 
themselves, and consequently none for the people. Preachers of 
this stamp are known by their utter want of variety. It is sub- 
stantially not only the same doctrine, which it of course ought to 
be, but the same sermon, with only a change of texts and some 
variation of method, but with scarcely the accession of a new 
idea."* 

"" All he said, (speaking of Philip Henry,) and all he saw, as 
well as the things he heard, were regarded by him with less or 
with more attention, as they bore upon his preparations for the 
pulpit." 

" ' Brother,' said Eliot to a young preacher, ' there was 
oil required for the service of the sanctuary, but it must be 
beaten oil ; I praise God, that I saw your oil so well beaten to- 
day.' " " And yet he looked for something in a sermon beside 
and beyond the mere study of men. I have heard him com- 
plain, ' It is a sad thing, when a sermon shall have that one 
thing, the Spirit of God, wanting in it.' " 

Study. 
God's word is to be the source of all topics of preach- 
ing, and the guide and authority in them. Bishop 
Meade in his Lectures says, " Bishop Spratt mentions 
an instance of a Bishop in troublous times, who, being 
confined nearly twenty years in the Tower of London, 
and plundered of his library, applied himself exclu- 
sively to the study of the Scriptures. He was often 
heard solemnly to profess that in all his studies and 
various readings and observations, he had never met 
with a more useful guide, or a surer interpreter to 

* Bridges, p. 178. 



356 PREACHING. 

direct his feet in the dark places of the living oracles, 
or to give satisfaction to his conscience in the . experi- 
mental truths of them, than when he was driven by 
necessity to the assiduous cultivation of the Scriptures 
alone, and to weigh them, as it were, in the balance 
of the sanctuary."* " Wisdom towards God," says 
Matthew Henry, "is to be gotten out of God's own 
book, and that by digging. Most persons do but walk 
on the surface of it, and pick up here and there a 
flower. Few dig into it; they are too lazy." And 
again, "When we quote Scripture, we speak with 
authority. No man dare answer, for it is God who 
speaketh by us." Chrysostom says, "If anything be 
spoken without Scripture, the knowledge of the hearers 
halteth." Augustine says, " Non valet, hsec ego dico, 
hsec tu dicis, hsec ille dicit, sed haec dicit Dominus." 
People expect their Minister to be familiar with the 
Bible. The People are well instructed in the Bible, 
as it is generally their one book. As it is prominent 
in our Church services, it should be equally prominent 
in the instructions of the pulpit. It is to be feared 
that there is much deficiency among Theological Stu- 
dents in their knowledge of the English Bible. They 
know a good deal about the Hebrew and the Greek 
originals, but very little, sometimes, about the English 
translation. Bishop Burnet says : 

11 Our Ember weeks are the burden and grief of my life. The 
much greater part of those who come to be Ordained are igno- 
rant to a degree not to be apprehended by those who are not 
obliged to know it. The easiest part of knowledge is that to 

* Meade, pp. 50, 51. 



PROPER HELPS. 357 

which they are the greatest strangers ; I mean the plainest parts 
of the Scriptures, which they say, in excuse of their ignorance, 
that their Tutors in the Universities never mention the reading 
of to them ; so that they can give no account, or at least a very 
imperfect one, of the contents even of the Gospels. Those who 
have read some few hooks, yet never seem to have read the 
Scriptures. Many cannot give a tolerable account even of the 
Catechism itself, how short and plain soever. They cry, and 
think it a sad disgrace to be denied Orders, though the ignorance 
of some is such, that, in a well regulated state of things, they 
would appear not knowing enough to he admitted to the Holy 
Sacrament." 

A Professor of great experience in a Theological 
School told me that he was confounded by the igno- 
rance which many of his students showed as to the Eng- 
lish Bible; and that it was only paralleled by the story 
that was told of an Oxford graduate applying for 
Orders. The Bishop asked him to distinguish between 
and name the major and minor Prophets. " Really, my 
Lord," he replied, "I do not care to draw comparisons 
oetween such sacred characters." 

Proper Helps. 
These will be books on geography, history, arche- 
ology, manners of the times referred to in Scripture: 
Oldhausen's, Trench's, Clarke's, Henry's, Scott's Com- 
mentaries; ("No man when he hath drank old wine 
straightway desireth new, for he saith the old is better.") 
The Speaker's Commentary ; Ellicott's ; Smith's Dic- 
tionary: and such works as Farrar's Life of Christ, 
Geikie's Life of Jesus, Connybeare and Howson's Life 
of St. Paul, Stanley's Jewish Church, Robinson's Holy 
Land: such works as give valuable reliable informa- 
tion to help one's own study of Scripture. 



358 PREACHING. 



Literature. 

Works on general literature and Belles-Lettres that 
bear directly or even remotely on an understanding of 
the Bible, are of great value in aiding one's preparation 
for the pulpit. In this view of the duty the wisest 
authors agree. 

Bishop Meade says, " But besides those ecclesiastical studies 
of the Seminary, there are other books of general literature, and 
science, and history, not to be neglected by those who have time 
and opportunity. Julian the apostate, endeavored to prevent 
Christian ministers from studying the heathen poets, historians, 
and mythologists, perceiving that they drew many arguments 
therefrom against the pagan system, and in favor of Chris- 
tianity." " Many things are now to be drawn from books not 
strictly religious, which may be applied to the service of re- 
ligion. Mr. Scott, the commentator, confesses, that in earlier 
life he fell into error on this subject, and limited his reading too 
much to purely religious books." u The vows of God are upon 
us ; all our reading should be subservient to the immediate ob- 
ject of instruction. As ministers, we should always note such 
things as may the better enable us to plead for the ' truth as it is 
in Jesus,' never merely for amusement, or curiosity, or love of 
learning simply for its own sake, or the credit and advantages 
derived from it."* 

The minister with his books should be as a mariner 
who makes every wind carry him to his destined port. 
With a free wind he uses all. With a wind on the 
quarter he uses a part. But whether tacking or sailing 
free he ever makes in the one direction. "No man/ ; 
says Mr. Bridges, " attains remarkable eminence or suc- 
cess without an habitual and resolute self-denial in sub- 
ordinating every secondary point to the favorite object." 

* Meade, p. 60. 



MEDITATION AS A HELP. 359 

Perhaps the highest praise for a minister of the gospel, 
was given by Dr. Johnson to Dr. Watts, in his life of 
him, when he said, "that whatever he took in hand 
was by his incessant solicitude for souls converted into 
theology." 

11 Lest I should be misunderstood, (Meade,) however, on the 
subject of this general reading, let me say that I do not mean an 
indiscriminate reading of all the trash now thrown before the 
public, or even all works of great genius that may be put forth. 
A well-regulated conscience and judgment should be exercised 
in the choice of them. There is no more propriety in reading 
all the books that are written, however evil, than in associating 
with all wicked persons, or going to hear preachers of infidelity 
or false doctrine, because they are eloquent, learned, or witty. 
We must use self-denial for the sake of example to others, as well 
as safety to ourselves. There is a great injury to the minds of 
Ministers from indulging a taste and fondness for light reading." 

In this connection it should be added that it is of 
great importance for a preacher to be familiar with 
Authors whose style and manner of using the English 
tongue is approved. The purest English is given by 
Washington Irving, Prescott, and Lamb; next by 
Walter Scott, and Motley. 

Meditation, 

Meditation, or reflection, is the turning of thoughts 
over and over, and appropriating them to one's mental 
nourishment. It is the digestion of the mind. On this 
process depends the usefulness of information gained 
by study. Knowledge is not the mere reception of 
truths, nor even an accumulation of them in the mind: 
but it is the result of a healthful digestion of them. 
We discriminate between what is valuable to us, and 



360 PREACHING. 

that which is useless. We forget the former. We 
assimilate the latter. Thus by meditation those truths 
become part of our own mental resources; part of our- 
selves. Excessive reading, like any other excess, is 
unwholesome, because no time can be given to medita- 
tion; because reflection is impossible, and memory be- 
comes overburdened. A farmer will tell us that a flood 
of rain is of less value to his crop, than half the quan- 
tity in gentle showers. 

It is very important to find a place in the mind for 
all important thoughts, or information; and to store 
them aw.ay. It is equally important to remember 
where they are stowed away, so that those resources 
may be of immediate use when needed. A common- 
place book may be useful. Many recommend it. The 
danger in using such a book arises from the temptation 
to depend upon it rather than upon meditation. A 
further danger springs from the temptation to string 
quotations together, without reason. The peculiar 
thread of thought originally suggesting the quotation, 
and connecting the extracts having been forgotten the 
quotations become useless. 

The best course is to become familiar with every book 
which we study. Note in them such parts as are to be 
remembered as particularly of use. The best sort of 
commonplace book is the last fly-leaf of a familiar book; 
on which may be noted subjects of important topics, 
and the pages where their treatment will be found. 

Time to be given to preparing Sermons or Lectures. 

Sufficient time must be secured. We owe it to our 
congregations. We owe it to God. The surest way 



PRACTICAL HINTS. 361 

to secure it is to fix upon certain hours of the day for 
study, and to adhere to them as a positive rule ; never 
to be broken for anything less important than duty to 
the sick and dying. Persons who want to see us on 
their own business should accommodate themselves to 
our hours. There are unreasonable people whose sel- 
fishness or self-importance is so great, and some whose 
inconsideration is so overmastering, that they will be 
offended if a Minister should seclude himself at any 
particular hour which happens to be most convenient 
to them. Better that they should be offended, than 
that one's congregation should suffer. 

Practical hints. 

If one's study is invaded, he is lost. Therefore that 
room in our home should be inviolate. As a precau- 
tion, during hours of study, only one chair should be 
visible ; and that the one which the Student is occupy- 
ing. When the visitor is either obliged to stand, or to 
keep his host standing, it is not too much to hope that 
the interview will be brief. This hint, however, is not 
always enough. But towards the impertinent or un- 
courteous, a Minister, without losing his character for 
politeness, may always find some forms of speech which 
will suffice to secure to him his needed solitude. 

It is best to hang a notice near the door, on the out- 
side, so prepared that it will attract attention. Thus, 
on a slate, " The Rector is engaged until — o'clock, 
and desires not to be interrupted except for cases of 
sickness or spiritual need. Messages may be left on 
the slate." For those cases the Pastor should be always 
ready to leave his studies ; other cases will not suffer 

Q 31 



362 PREACHING. 

by the delay of a few hours. The best plan, is to fore- 
stall interruptions, by visiting up to the day, and to let 
the congregation see enough of us at times convenient to 
ourselves. It is well also to notify our people at what 
hours their Pastor can most conveniently attend to 
Parochial business. 

Illustrations of the necessity for these hints abound. 
A country Clergyman had just settled himself to 
his books and paper. It was a stormy day. He had 
carefully provided against interruption by visiting every 
case of need in the congregation on the previous day. 
His wife, too, had taken advantage of the storm for 
household work, intending to limit the dinner to a cold 
luncheon. Scarcely had the thoughts begun to flow, 
and the sermon paper begun to rejoice in them, when 
a thundering knock was heard on the door. A farmer 
friend appeared. " Terrible storm. Couldn't do any 
work out-doors. Thought I would come round, and 
chat with you." And he did sit around all day. The 
sermon was gone. The wife was obliged to cook a 
dinner. And except for the pleasure of their Parish- 
ioner's company, the day was lost. I was not told 
whether the guest criticised the sermon on the next 
Sunday : but it is likely. For such a case perhaps 
there is no remedy : because this visitor came in the 
innocence of his heart, and with the kindest purposes 
of friendship : and his hosts were grateful for the 
attention. Nevertheless the injury to the sermon was 
irreparable. And if, in some way, we could make it 
known that there is a possibility of doing such harm, 
some of the harm might be prevented. 

A country Clergyman came to a city Pastor's study 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 363 

to solicit alms for his Mission. He saw such a notice 
on the door as is referred to above. He went away in 
a huff, denouncing the arrogance of the whole class of 
city Rectors, and preferring to lose the alms rather 
than ask for it at the appointed hour. In this instance 
neither the Rector nor his sermon was the sufferer. 
But if a Clergyman can be so unreasonable, it is evi- 
dent that the difficulties of the case are great. Such 
illustrations emphasize the importance of the precau- 
tions recommended. Such rules are universal among 
other professional men. 

Morning hours are the best for study : the mind is 
then peculiarly vigorous. Late hours in the evening, 
or at night, are exhausting to the mind (besides being 
trying to the eyes); study is easier then because the 
mind has become excited. Physicians say that the 
excitement is caused by an increased flow of blood to 
the brain. Of course such brain-work is an over- 
action and therefore unhealthy; and such study is 
therefore less valuable. It rapidly weakens the powers 
of the mind. 

Sermons should be written early in the week. Sat- 
urday morning should be held sacred for reviewing 
the sermon and amending or perfecting it. Generally 
one will have little time on Sunday : and on that day 
the mind should be freed from the excitement of 
study, so as to be in harmony with the sacred restful 
occupations of the day. 



General observation 



Sermons should differ from Lectures in style. There 
should be more gravity and dignity in the former. 



364 PREACHING. 

Lectures had better be extemporary in form, and should 
exhibit more freedom in manner. A degree of plain- 
ness in the mode and frankness in the character of 
advice, of plain and direct speaking, is possible in lec- 
tures and proper to them which is not suited to sermons. 
Occasional discourses should be rare. Funeral ser- 
mons are to be avoided, if possible. And it is possible. 
During a thirty years' ministry I have preached only 
one such sermon in my own Parishes : and only two, 
even in other Parishes, except as memorials of de- 
ceased Clergymen. Bishop Meade recommends the 
same course strongly. Custom in country places de- 
mands a funeral sermon : but the Clergy, by judicious 
effort, could correct that public taste. Returning from 
a funeral service not conducted according to our forms, 
in company with three Clergymen, distinguished in 
their several Churches, Presbyterian, Congregational, 
and Dutch Reformed, each took occasion to approve 
and advocate the customs of the Episcopal Church, 
in using a fixed Burial service, and avoiding funeral 
sermons. 

I once attended a funeral service (not of our Church) 
in a house, where the Minister who officiated occupied 
his whole address by apologizing for his deceased 
friend's neglect in professing religion. A Parishioner 
was standing by my side, whom I had been earnestly 
striving to lead to a profession of his faith in Christ. 
He touched me on the arm, and nodded approvingly. 
Instantly I felt that my cause was lost. And so it 
proved. My friend died many years after without 
acknowledging his Saviour ; and the responsible cause, 
I have no doubt, was that funeral discourse, in which 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 365 

the Minister palliated instead of reproving error. The 
temptation is not easily resisted. But if Ministers 
would always speak only the truth on such occasions, 
the demand for funeral discourses would be rapidly 
diminished. A Clergyman was called on to preach 
the funeral of a dissipated character. He frankly told 
the family that if he preached he must speak so that 
his hearers should be warned to avoid those faults. 
They insisted; and the old Pastor did his duty, speak- 
ing the truth plainly, but in love and with all courtesy. 
My impression is that whilst his honor among the 
people was increased thereby, he was never called upon 
again to " preach a funeral." A habit of preaching 
nothing but the truth on such occasions would soon 
break up the custom. 

Discourses to children are peculiar in construction 
and language, and are strangely neglected ; yet never- 
theless, no one should try to preach them, who does 
not understand the distinction between simplicity and 
simpleness : or who supposes that one must preach down 
to children. 

Repetition of sermons may occur after an interval 
of years ; but it is not a wise practice to repeat sermons 
in ordinary Pastoral life. A better habit is to review 
sermons carefully, in such a manner that they become 
essentially new. 

The average length of a sermon may be thirty 
minutes. Twenty minutes' length is better than forty. 
But much depends upon the interest which a preacher 
awakens. Some sermons are long, which continue after 
an announcement of the text and subject. Some ser- 
mons are short, when even at the end of an hour 

31* 



366 PREACHING. 

neither the Preacher's thoughts, nor the hearers' 
anxiety to listen, are exhausted. There are unmis- 
takable signs of attention and interest, or the contrary, 
which every preacher should study and watch. And 
he who trespasses often on a congregation's patience 
will soon find himself without a congregation on which 
to practise. 

A few weighty sentences from the Bishop of Oxford's 
addresses (Wilberforce) will emphasize these practical 
hints. 

" Your ministry has failed as to every soul entrusted to you 
who is not under it converted to the Lord, or built up in His holy 
faith." "When you preach, be real. Set your people before 
you in their numbers, their wants, their dangers, their capaci- 
ties ; choose a subject, not to show yourself off but to benefit 
them ; and then speak straight to them, as you would beg your 
life, or counsel your son, or call your dearest friend from a burn- 
ing house, in plain, strong, earnest words." " That you may be 
real, let your sermons be made up of truths learned on your knees, 
from your Bible, in self-examination, and amongst your people." 
" Beware of giving to God and souls the paring of your time, and 
the ends of other employment." "Beware of a pernicious fa- 
cility. However poor or ignorant your people are, you may be 
assured that they will feel the difference between sermons which 
have been well digested and well arranged, and those which are 
put carelessly and ill together." " Let every sermon tend to this 
highest purpose, simply to exalt before your people Christ cruci- 
fied. Deal much in the great truths which the blessed God has 
taught us of Himself; beware of always tarrying amongst the 
graves and corruption of our own fallen and tempted state, but 
rise up to God and Christ and the Holy Ghost, and bear your 
flock with you there. To lead them for themselves indeed through 
the Spirit, to believe in the Person of the Eternal Son, and so to 
stand before the Father, accepted in the Beloved, — this is life 
eternal."* 

* Addresses, p. 28, et seq. 



SOCIAL INSTRUCTION. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

IMPORTANCE, ADVANTAGES, AND METHODS. 

Definition. — Social instruction differs from public, in 
that the Teacher blends a social with an official position. 
He descends from the pulpit to take his chair in a 
circle of friends gathered for mutual benefit. He does 
not cease to be a teacher, but he teaches with more 
freedom, less formality, and more in conversational 
methods. The characteristic of these instructions is this 
blending with them of the social element. We take 
advantage of that significant principle of our nature on 
which society depends for its existence to impress and 
give pow r er to our instructions. 

Tlie Social Element is an eternal principle. It rules 
throughout the moral universe. A recognition of it 
lies at the basis of all true knowledge of God : for God 
has not revealed Himself to us as existing in isolation 
or solitariness, but as existing in blessed Trinity. Holy 
Scripture represents Divine existence from all eternity 
to have been the association of three Divine Persons in 
sacred and mysterious unity. All hard and repulsive 
notions of God's nature and character have arisen out 
of an idea of His isolation, His want of sympathy, 
His unlikeness to us. On the contrary, it is revealed 

367 



368 SOCIAL INSTRUCTION. 

that He made us in His own image. Certainly He did 
not adopt some other pattern in that most strongly 
marked of all human characteristics, our social dispo- 
sition. 

We do not begin to know God until we can recognize 
Him as "Our Father." But the very word Father 
involves a social idea. Nor does this idea spring out of 
His relations to us. He represents Himself as Father 
in the ages long before His creation of men. Far back 
beyond our creation was the creation of the Angels. 
And far back amidst the ages of eternity past, was the 
era w 7 hen he assumed a Fatherly relation in the scheme 
of redemption. For when he said to "ray Lord/' 
"Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten Thee," 
evidently the second Person of the Holy Trinity was 
already existing. He announces a relationship, not a 
creation, or a beginning to be. The Father "said to my 
Lord"; he did not create "my Lord." He said to him, 
"this day," "thou art my Son." As if it were said: 
this day that particular relationship in the scheme of 
redemption has commenced, which, during the continu- 
ance of the Mediatorial work, is to be known, on my 
part as Fatherhood ; and on thy part as Sonship ; and I 
"declare this decree" to the universe. This relation- 
ship will continue, until "all things shall be subdued 
unto him," that is, subdued unto the One who is known 
by the double title, Son of God, Son of Man, the 
Christ Jesus. Then "when all things shall be subdued 
unto him," "shall the Son (in his Mediatorial relation- 
ship) also be subject unto Him that hath put all things 
under Him, that God may be all in all," as it was 
from eternity past. The Second Person of the adora- 



SOCIAL ELEMENT AN ETERNAL PRINCIPLE. 369 

ble Trinity will not then pass into non-existence or be 
absorbed: but the relationship in this scheme having 
been completed its purpose will cease. And, as God 
was previously to the announcement of it, so after its 
termination, God will be all in all, Three Divine Per- 
sons in one Godhead; the Mediatorial relationship ceas- 
ing, but the social element remaining eternal. Conse- 
quently the Church's doctrine of the Eternal Sonship 
of the Second Person of the Trinity is an exact represen- 
tation of the truth. The particular Sonship which was 
connected with the Incarnation and Redemption com- 
menced and will terminate: but the eternal Sonship, 
which is a relation not of office but of nature, as it 
had no beginning, so will have no end. Father, Son, 
Holy Ghost, three Divine Persons, are eternally One 
God. 

These views have lately received strong confirmation 
in the Essays of Richard Holt Hutton, of England. 
He says: 

" We are told by it something of God's absolute and essential 
nature, something which does not merely describe what He is to- 
ils, but what He is in himself. If Christ is the Eternal Son of 
God, God is indeed and in essence a Father; the social nature, 
the spring of love is of the very essence of the Eternal being. 
The communication of His life, the reciprocation of His affection 
dates from beyond time, belongs, in other words, to the very 
being of God. Now, some persons think that such a certainty, 
even when attained has very little to do with human life. ; What 
does it matter,' they say, ' what the absolute nature of God is, if 
we know what He is to us; how can it concern us to know what 
He was before our race existed, if we know what He is to all his 
creatures now?' These questions seem plausible, but I believe 
they point to a very deep error. I can answer for myself that 
the Unitarian conviction that God is — as God and in his eternal 
essence — a single and, so to say, solitary personality, influenced 
Q* 



370 SOCIAL INSTRUCTION. 

my imagination and the whole color of my faith most pro- 
foundly. Such a conviction, thoroughly realized, renders it im- 
possible to identify any of the social attributes with His real 
essence ; renders it difficult not to regard power as the true root 
of all other divine life. If we are to believe that the Father was 
from all time, we must believe that He was as a Father, that is, 
that love was actual in Him as well as potential, that the commu- 
nication of life and thought and fulness of joy was of the inmost 
nature of God and never began to be, if God never began to be." 
11 For my own part, I am sure that our belief, whatever it may 
be, about the ( absolute' nature of God, influences far more than 
any one supposes our practical thoughts about the actual relation 
of God to us. Unitarians eagerly deny, I once eagerly denied, that 
God is to them a solitary omnipotence. Nor is He. But I am 
sure that the conception of a single eternal will as originating, 
and infinitely antecedent to, all acts of love or spiritual com- 
munion with any other, affects vitally the temper of their faith. 
The throne of heaven is to them a lonely one. The solitude of 
the eternities weighs upon their imaginations. Social are neces- 
sarily postponed to individual attributes ; for they date from a 
later origin — from creation — while power and thought are eter- 
nal." "If our prayers are addressed to one whose eternity 
we habitually image as unshared, we necessarily for the time 
merge the Father in the omniscient and omnipotent genius of 
the universe. If, on the other hand, we pray to One who has 
revealed his own eternity through the Eternal Son ; if, in the 
spirit of the Liturgies, Catholic and Protestant, we alternate our 
prayers to the eternal originating love, and to that filial love in 
which it has been eternally mirrored, turning from the ' Father 
of heaven' to the ' Son Redeemer of the world,' and back again 
to Him in whom that Son forever rests, then we keep a God 
essentially social before our hearts and minds, and fill our imag- 
ination with no solitary grandeur." " < Before all worlds' God 
was essentially the Father, essentially Love, essentially some- 
thing infinitely more than knowledge or power, essentially com- 
municating and receiving a living affection. We are apt to take 
the word ' Father' as metaphorical in its application to God, a 
metaphor derived from human parentage. But such a faith 
teaches us that the most sacred human relations, which we feel 
to be far deeper than any individual and solitary human atri- 



SOCIAL ELEMENT AN ETERNAL PRINCIPLE. 371 

bates, are but faint shadows of realities eternally existing in 
the divine mind." 

I emphasize these weighty sentences; "If Christ is 
the Eternal Son of God, God is indeed and in essence 
a Father : the social nature, the spring of love, is of the 
very essence of the Eternal Being." 

Again. " The most sacred human relations are but 
faint shadows of realities eternally existing in the 
Divine mind." 

Bishop Huntington, of Central New York, in a 
letter to the author on this topic, thus responds to these 
views : 

" There was a time in my transition state when a powerful im- 
pression was made on my mind, as I was pondering the doctrine 
of the Trinity on which my whole life for years was turning, by 
this idea: — Unless the Son was from Eternity then there vjas 
once a period when God was not a Father. Turning that idea 
over you will, I think, see how exactly it falls in with your sug- 
gestions as to the sociality in the Godhead and the absolute 
necessity, if we may say so, of reciprocal relations between the 
Divine Persons. I do not remember ever to have seen this 
point developed in any argument for the Trinity. But is it not 
strong? Indeed it seems to be philosophically doubtful whether 
any perfect Being, or nearly perfect, could exist in absolute and 
perpetual solitude. And even if God could so exist He would 
not have the character of God. We need not be afraid here of 
Anthropomorphism or Anthropopathy. We are in much more 
danger of abstractions in religion. Generally I think the expo- 
sitions and defences of the Trinity have been too scholastic in 
method. The Unitarians are not to be so convinced. Even Lid- 
don's admirable Bampton Lectures largely miss the mark. I 
never knew a Unitarian to be much affected by them. With 
Plato, Kant, and the best modern Germans on its side, philo- 
sophical Trinitarianism is sufficiently vindicated. What people 
want to see and feel is its practical power ; its blessed ministry 
to the life of the living man." 



372 SOCIAL INSTRUCTION. 

It is to be anticipated that an eternal element, so in- 
timately and intensely affecting our moral nature, would 
play an important part in every remedial plan for re- 
storing the condition of men, who were made " in the 
image of God." As it is the moving spring in redemp- 
tion, it must be a prime element in all instrumentalities 
which apply that redemption. We may therefore ex- 
pect to find the social element constantly appealed to, 
in the structure of the Gospel and of the Church, and 
in the administration of them.* It is the principle on 
which the family relation is based. This idea was de- 
veloped with the creation of man. God said, it is not 
good for the man to be alone. There resulted the grand 
relationships of Families, Communities, Tribes, and 
Nations; the social element extending itself from the sim- 
plest form of society to the most complex, and embra- 
cing at last, in the complexities of international relations 
and laws, all communities in one grand social system. 

In the construction of His Church our Saviour took 
advantage of this principle. It is a leading idea. The 
Church is not a government, but a society. It is a 
body of members : a family in which God is Father, 
and our Lord condescends to be called our Brother. 
Baptism introduces us into a society. The Holy Com- 
munion, in its first notion, is a mode of sacred inter- 
course between members of this society. The Ministry 
is that office which ministers to the members of the 
society. The Ministers of Christ are servants of all for 
Christ's sake. The reality and realization of these 

* The Bishop of Ely uses weighty expressions in a similar line 
of thought, in an address delivered in 1879, at the marriage of 
the Metropolitan of Cape Town. 



AD VANTA GES. 373 

truths give to the Pastoral relation that importance and 
effectualness of which we have already spoken. 

Every wise Pastor will therefore take advantage of 
this principle. He will not isolate himself. He will 
not always remain asserting his dignified position as 
public teacher, in the pulpit. Sometimes, and the more 
frequently as his experience increases, he will blend his 
office as teacher with his position as equal, in the social 
bond of membership of Christ. The bearing of this 
great truth will become still more apparent when we 
speak of Pastoral Administration.* 

The history of the Mission established by Mr. and 
Mrs. William AVelsh at Frankford, Pennsylvania, whilst 
especially illustrating lay-labor, also illustrates the ne- 
cessity of recognizing this social element in bringing 
men and women into contact with the Gospel and the 
Church : for its success was largely owing to the sociality 
of the methods employed. Questions may arise as to 
particular applications of this principle ; but not as to 
the truth of the principle. 

The advantages of Social instruction need only to be 
enumerated. They do not need to be explained nor 
enforced. 

Increased activity of sympathy. — The Teacher and 
the taught are brought into personal relations. Near- 
ness of presence quickens the emotions. The eye of 
the speaker catches fire from the eye of the hearer. 
The word enters with that electric influence which 
belongs to the personal communication. It is I and 
Thou. The feelings pass over from one heart to the 



* Chapter xxiv. 
32 



374 SOCIAL INSTRUCTION. 

other as if by immediate contact, for it is no longer 
the Preacher who addresses a multitude from his dis- 
tant point of general observation, but the friend who 
is talking with a friend of that which kindles all their 
mutual sympathies. Freedom of manner, in a Pastor's 
communication both of instruction and advice, is an- 
other advantage. It becomes the freedom of a Father, 
or at least of a Teacher, applying his counsel to the 
particular needs of individuals. Directness of teach- 
ing is consequent upon this immediateness of inter- 
course between the parties taught, and the Instructor. 
Opportunity for comparison of views will be given. 
Many a sermon is lost because the Preacher is supposed 
to be unapproachable. His statements, accurate and 
applicable for many cases, may not be accurate nor 
applicable in some particular case; which therefore 
receives no benefit. Difficulties have arisen in some 
minds which do not happen to have been foreseen by 
the Preacher. His statements may have needed some 
correction, amendment, explanations, or enforcement. 
Social instruction enables a Pastor to remedy all such 
inconveniences. It gives him opportunity for a com- 
parison between his methods of looking at and pre- 
senting the subjects of religion, and those processes of 
thought which are common among his parishioners. A 
skilful Pastor will need only to know that the oppor- 
tunity is open to him. More particularity of statement 
will be possible. It is not always possible or even 
wise to enter into details in sermons; but in social 
instruction details of a line of duty are expected. 

The chief methods of Social Instruction are as fol- 
lows : 



COTTAGE LECTURES AND BIBLE CLASSES. 375 

Cottage Lectures. 

This is a general term for meetings for informal ser- 
vices from house to house ; always accompanied by an 
exposition of Scripture, or exhortation, by the Pastor. 
We are not speaking now of such meetings when con- 
ducted by Laymen. The object is to carry the Gospel 
by Pastoral ministry to those who will not come to us 
for it. In country places these become substitutes for 
weekly lectures, and have great advantages. It affords 
an opportunity for a gathering of neighbors. It is an 
important part of the method of discharging Pastoral 
duty when visiting a farm or a country neighborhood. 
A Minister gives notice of time and place ; sometimes 
he emphasizes the notice by beating up recruits in per- 
sonal visits ; or enlisting others in that service. The 
Minister should be careful to greet, and have a friendly 
word for, each and every person as the neighbors gather 
to these meetings. He takes a seat, not in a corner, 
nor far away from his people, but as much as possible 
in their midst ; the object being to encourage the social 
idea. All formality should be avoided, whilst whole- 
some forms are retained. 

After an Introduction, with a few kind words of 
welcome, let a Hymn be sung; always a familiar hymn : 
followed by Prayer, either entirely or largely from the 
Prayer Book. Next, the word of God ought always 
to be read ; not simply as a text, but definitely as in- 
struction ; for it is the duty of all people to listen to 
God's teaching before they listen to man's words. 

The Expository is the best form of address. It 
gives more opportunity for what we specifically mean 



376 SOCIAL INSTRUCTION. 

by instruction. In general it should be hortatory. An 
extempore address is decidedly the best : extempore, I 
mean, in the structure of sentences and use of words, 
but never extempore in arrangement and thought. An 
extempore prayer, or a preconceived prayer sjiited to 
the occasion, and to the subject of instruction, should 
close the order. Such a prepared prayer may easily be 
found in the words of the collects. 

Religious conversation should follow the close of the 
meeting, but not general conversation : above all gossip 
is to be avoided. The Minister and the people may 
profitably talk about matters related to Pastoral work. 
But the moment the talking degenerates into ordinary 
conversation about one's neighbors, the Minister should 
break up the assemblage, and manage to disperse the 
neighbors to their own homes. 

Cottage Lectures in a large city are not advisable, 
except among the humbler classes. City life requires 
a continual attention to conventional forms. It could 
not exist and would not be safe without them: and no 
Pastor violates them habitually with wisdom. Even 
a modification of them cannot be well introduced. For 
example, we have an instance of a very faithful Pastor's 
attempt to introduce neighborhood parochial visiting 
into a church in a city. He gave notice that on such a 
day and hour he would visit a certain house, and wished 
all the members of the parish within that district to 
gather there. No one but the family was present ; for 
some of the congregation were not on visiting terms 
with the family, and none had received the invitation 
from the lady of the house. Consequently social 
propriety forbade such a gathering there. A second 



COTTAGE LECTURES AND BIBLE CLASSES. 377 

attempt was made, at another house; but when the 
Pastor arrived at the appointed time he found that the 
servant was instructed to say, "Not at home." This 
finished the experiment. For a City, or large Town, 
we cannot dispense with the regular lecture and formal 
services. The people are able, and accustomed, to meet 
in one place, and prefer the formalities of a public act 
of worship. 

Pastor's Bible Classes. 

I speak specifically of classes taught by the Pastor. 
Where Bible classes can be committed to Laymen, it is 
better that they should be placed in their hands on all 
accounts ; but when there is a dearth of lay instructors, 
or of suitable and competent lay instruction, the Pas- 
tor should make the effort and endure whatever sacri- 
fice may be necessary, to conduct these classes himself. 
A Bible class may be held in the church : then it be- 
comes merely an expository lecture. A lecture room 
or Sunday-School room is a better place. The Parson- 
age is the best place for it. A distinct object should be 
kept in mind: that is, to educe entire freedom and 
sympathy in communicating thoughts and opinions. 
The character of the instruction and method will of 
course depend upon the intellectual and social condition 
of its members. It is well to use maps, pictures, and 
visible illustrations. By all means let questions be used. 
Without these the instruction ceases to be that of a 
Bible class. Written questions are the most attractive. 
Written answers are the least attractive ; but they are 
sometimes necessary. It is not necessary that these 
classes should be held on the Lord's Day. Some of 

32* 



378 SOCIAL INSTRUCTION. 

the largest Bible classes in the City of New York have 
been taught by Pastors on week days. 

Sunday-School Teachers' Meetings. 

This is an important field for a Pastor's social influ- 
ence. It is the place where he directs the whole ma- 
chinery of his Sunday-School, and whence his teaching 
flows out, as many streams from one fountain. A 
Pastor's instruction here gives unity to Sunday-School 
instruction. It prevents errors. Prevention is better 
than cure. Such a meeting leads to sympathy among 
teachers, and unity of plan and work. A Pastor should 
meet his teachers more or less frequently according to 
their capacity and facilities for self-education : at least 
once a month ; once a week is generally best. All the 
parish teachers should be present, and of all departments. 

Means are to be taken to induce punctuality. Pri- 
vate exhortation should be employed. Sometimes pub- 
lic notice may be taken of our success or ill success 
(less often of ill success) in securing attendance at the 
meetings. Sometimes we talk to a Sunday class about 
the teachers' meeting which is held to consult and to 
pray for them.* When the rule requires that Teachers' 
reports shall be presented at these meetings, teachers 
will be almost sure to be there, to explain or emphasize 
what they have written. But the principal means of 
securing punctual attendance is so to throw our zeal 
and spirit and effort into them as to make the meetings 
full of interest. 

* N.B. — If the teacher of that class should have been absent 
from the meeting, the hint will be effective. 



CIRCLES FOR PRAYER. 379 

Express attention should be given to the lesson for 
the next Sunday, if the meeting is weekly; or to the 
course of lessons for the next month, if monthly. 
Books explanatory or illustrative of the lesson are to 
be referred to : and in general the Teachers are to be 
shown how to study the lesson, and how to prepare for 
giving interest to their instruction of their classes. 

Circles for Prayer. 

Here the social principle in the Church exhibits itself 
in the most attractive form. It is a meeting for com- 
muning as to things of God expressly : and for uniting 
together in that communion at the footstool of Divine 
grace. Here sympathies are quickened in the liveliest 
manner; and when rightly managed Christian people 
are bound together in a unity of love and work to 
which no other bond can compare. Here is a realiza- 
tion of Church unity. It is not the mere assertion 
of a formal ecclesiastical tie, but the thing itself, the 
church's bond, the family of Christ communing to- 
gether. 

Any objections will lie against them not on ground 
of principle, but of expediency. Bishop Griswold in 
his " Remarks on Social Prayer Meetings" says, "The 
most candid of those who are opposed to them admit 
that this subject is '& question of expediency/ That 
God's word forbids such meetings, no one probably 
will venture to affirm. That the Church forbids 
them, no one has been able to show. And should she 
disapprove, nothing hinders that she should forbid 
them." 

The Weight of Authority is largely in their favor; if 



380 SOCIAL INSTRUCTION. 

we are to accept the opinions of earnest-minded Chris- 
tians. Bishop Griswold says : 

"So far as I am acquainted, and able to judge, they who at- 
tend these meetings are generally pious, sincere Christians, who 
think it profitable, and find it spiritually refreshing, during the 
six days usually appropriated to worldly pleasures, to pass an 
hour, or perhaps two or three hours, in social worship. A large 
part of those who are Communicants choose rather to attend to 
their temporal business, or to associate for other purposes, and 
do not attend the meetings. And for this I never hear them 
censured. It is considered as a voluntary thing ; as much so as 
giving alms. Our rule is, ' Let every man be persuaded in his 
own mind.' If others spend the time better, we rejoice and 
bless God. If while I and my friends are enjoying merriment 
and recreations, others choose to be devoutly praying for us, and 
for all men, it is a wrong which may easily be forgiven." 

" On questions of the same nature we might expect that the 
opinion of ' the pious Mr. Nelson' would have much more weight 
with Churchmen than that of Mr. Scott. Speaking of such 
voluntary meetings in England, he says, in the preface of his 
much esteemed work on the Festivals and Pasts of the Church, 
1 1 cannot apprehend but that they must be very serviceable to 
the interests of religion, and may contribute very much to re- 
vive that true spirit of Christianity, which was so much the glory 
of the primitive times. And I see no reason why men may not 
meet and consult together to improve one another in Christian 
knowledge, and by mutual advice take measures *how best to 
further their own salvation, as well as that of their neighbors, 
when the same liberty is taken for the improvement of trade and 
for carrying on the pleasures and diversions of life. And for 
those objections which are urged against these societies from 
some canons of the Church, they seem to be founded upon a 
misunderstanding of the sense of those Canons.' " 

To those who desire to weigh the arguments in favor 
of general prayer meetings against current objections to 
them, I recommend Bishop Griswold's Tract on the 
subject. 



PLAN SUGGESTED FOR PRAYER CIRCLES. 381 

It is a fact, however, that our people have a distaste 
for general prayer meetings; so that whilst they may 
not. object to them on principle, or even regard them 
as inexpedient, they may feel them to be distasteful. 
Then it will not be wise for a Pastor to attempt to 
force them on his people. After an experiment of 
general prayer meetings in both my parishes, I found 
that this distaste was uncontrollable. jS"o efficient Lay- 
men could be found to assist in maintaining them. 
Nor am I altogether free from such distaste; derived 
partly from early experiences, and partly from habits 
of mind. Whilst never discouraging, and often uniting 
in them with profit, I have ceased to encourage general 
prayer meetings ; not because they are not scriptural, and 
churchly, and useful to many persons, but because they 
do not suit me, and those over whom I have been placed. 

Instead of them, I recommend limited meetings, or 
what may be termed "Communicants' circles for prayer" 
The idea was first suggested by my venerated preceptor, 
Dr. Muhlenberg, adapting and utilizing what is good 
in the Methodist class meeting, suiting it to our own 
Church ideas. I have practised on it. 

The following rules are suggested by experience. 

" Communicants' Circles for Prayer." 

Our object is to pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit: to 
read the Bible and to converse freely upon its precious truths. 

We are to pray that the influences of the Holy Spirit may be 
poured out upon the unconverted : the Church of Christ : our 
own beloved Church : our Bishops : our Hector, Vestrymen, 
our Parish, Sabbath, and Infant Schools, Bible Classes, benevo- 
lent and missionary Societies : our relations, friends, acquaint- 
ances, and on our own souls. 

At the first meeting in every month our prayers, reading, con- 



382 SOCIAL INSTRUCTION. 

versation, and hymns shall have a special reference to missions : 
Foreign, Domestic, and Diocesan missions. 

At that meeting this paper shall be read aloud as a reminder 
of our objects of meeting ; and also shall be read our 

Rules. 

"We will meet once a week for one hour at the same house. 
Not more than twelve members shall form a circle. 

The names being written in alphabetical order, the member 
who has charge of the meeting, shall, just before its close, an- 
nounce the three members who are to officiate at the next meet- 
ing. 

The duty of the first member will be to conduct the meeting, 
first reading a hymn ; after it shall have been sung, to call upon 
the second member to pray. Then the first member will read a 
portion of Scripture, and commence conversation upon it, in 
which the members generally shall join. Then read a selected, 
spiritual or practical, religious article. At the termination re- 
quest the third member to pray ; after which, close with a hymn. 
Two prayers, two hymns, reading the Bible, conversation upon 
it, and religious reading compose the exercises. The meeting 
shall commence punctually even if only two are present: and 
close as punctually. No conversation to be held either before or 
after the meeting, as it is intended exclusively for prayer and 
spiritual communion. 

The prayers are to be extempore : or the members can read 
their previously composed prayers. The members will take their 
turns with regularity : but if providentially prevented from 
attending, will notify the next member on the list. 

The Scriptures are to be read in course, so that they may be 
studied by the members between the meetings. It is profitable 
to take up an Epistle ; and follow it to the end, even if the con- 
sideration should occupy more than one meeting. 

By the blessing of God the Holy Spirit, upon our circle, we 
will find that our prayers and Bible conversations will give 
us more freedom in praying and conversing with our rela- 
tions and friends ; the poor, sick, afflicted ; the unconverted, the 
backslider, inquirers, and the faithful Christian. 

Thus may we hope to become more like our Saviour and better 
promote the glory of God, as members of His Church. 



ADMINISTRATION. 



383 



PART SECOND. 



PASTOKAL ADMINISTRATION, INCLUDING: 

THE SACEAMENTS. 
PASTOKAL VISITING. 
CAKE OF SCHOOLS, 
DIRECTION OF ACTIVITIES. 

PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION, INCLUDING: 

RELATIONS TO PERSONS AND PROPERTY. 
DUTIES RESPECTING PUBLIC PRAYERS AND 
PUBLIC OFFICES. 



384 



ADMINISTRATION. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

LIMITS AND EXTENT OF PASTORAL CHARGE. 
THE SACRAMENTS. 

The Pastor's duties and responsibilities are limited 
to his own pastoral charge. His is not a roving com- 
mission to preach the Gospel, and administer sacraments 
and discipline wherever he will; but his field is defined. 
Under our system of government, sanctioned by long 
experience and wisdom as well as by Scripture, each 
Pastor's labors are confined to the care of the people 
over whom God, and the call of that people, have placed 
him. 

He will find this allotted sphere quite large enough. 
He has no right, nor will it be w T ise nor expedient, to 
interfere with another man's duties or responsibilities. 
This system provides more efficiently than any other 
for the wants of each flock. 

These limitations of a Pastor's responsibility are 
strictly in accordance with the law as defined in Title 
I of the Digest; Canon 14, Section 1; of Elections. 
Also in Section 6 ; of Parochial bounds. Legally, the 
Pastor's jurisdiction, and consequently his responsi- 
R 33 385 



386 ADMINISTRATION. 

bility, extends over all the territory which is included 
within the limits of the city, town, or village, or dis- 
trict, in which his is the only Protestant Episcopal 
Church : or, if there are two or more churches within 
these limits, he shares a joint responsibility, to be ex- 
ercised in severalty, over these limits. Practically, a 
Pastor's jurisdiction and responsibility are confined to 
that number of souls who have placed themselves under 
his pastoral care. 

His first duty on entering upon a charge will be to 
obtain accurate knowledge of his field. For this he 
should take some efficient method; becoming thor- 
dughly acquainted with the persons, the ecclesiastical 
condition, and the religious habits of his people.* 

A settled state of the Church introduces the necessity 
for an Executive charge in each congregation : and the 
Pastor, besides his duties as ambassador for Christ, is 
the executive officer in the Parish organization. The 
whole spiritual care of the people, and a share of the 
temporal care of the parish, are confided to him. Upon 
the character of his administration in these particulars 
depends the healthy growth, stability, and consolidation 
of his congregation. 

Administration includes a large department of work : 
in the two spheres Pastoral, and Parochial. 

Pastoral administration includes the executive over- 
sight of those departments which are peculiarly spiritual 
or related to the religious character of a people. Such 
are, the due administration of Holy Sacraments, Pas- 

* In the Appendix a plan is recommended which I have found 
feasible and satisfactory. 



LIMITS AND EXTENT OF PASTORAL CHARGE. 387 

toral Visiting, the care of schools, and the right direc- 
tion of the religious activities of a congregation. 

Parochial administration includes the executive charge 
of the Parish, and t\\Q oversight of, and arrangement 
for the discharge of Parish duties. It embraces the 
relations into which a Rector is brought with official 
persons and with the property of his Parish ; and also 
his duties in public prayers and offices. 



388 THE SACRAMENTS. 



THE SACRAMENTS. 

The Administration of the Sacraments is not only a 
very sacred, but a most valuable portion of Pastoral 
duty. My object in giving the topic a distinct place 
here, is not to treat it separately, but merely to call 
attention to it as related to administration : inasmuch 
as the Sacraments are divinely appointed instruments 
in a Pastor's hands for accomplishing the highest 
spiritual good. He uses them at moments when his 
people are peculiarly susceptible to spiritual influences. 
The manner of such use, the preparation for it, the 
instruction which he will give as to the meaning and 
purposes of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and the 
training with which he will follow their administra- 
tion, will test his Pastoral character, and largely form 
the religious character of his flock. These various 
topics are treated in several portions of this Book; and 
those instructions need not to be repeated here. But 
it will be well that every Pastor should remember, 
when approaching the administration of these Holy 
Rites, that they are not mere ceremonials, nor Ordi- 
nances to be gazed at, but divinely appointed Signs, 
and Seals, and Pledges of Grace to all who receive 
them worthily. Very sacred is that Ministry which is 
permitted to employ the symbols of so great realities : 
and very responsible his trust to use them rightlv 



PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION. 



CHAPTER XXY. 

PASTORAL VISITING. 

Definition. — It is the friendly, unceremonious visit 
of a Pastor. 

It is not ordinary visiting, such as the forms of social 
life require. Much less is it mere gossiping, chattering, 
inconsequential, formal visiting as in ordinary society. 
Much less is it trifling and worldly, made up of vain 
and useless talk, or of unseemly criticisms of a neighbor's 
life and manners. On the other side, it is not merely a 
formal religious lecture ; a transfer of the Church and 
desk and pulpit to the house. It is not Baxter's 
method. "At the delivery of the catechisms, I take 
a catalogue of the persons of understanding in the 
parish ; and the Clerk goeth a week before to every 
family to tell them when to come, and at what hour ; 
(one family at eight o'clock, the next at nine, and the 
next at ten, etc.) And I am forced by the number to 
deal with a whole family at once ; but admit not any 
of another to be present (ordinarily)." 

Such formal, stately, ministerial visitings, adding to 
the solemnities of Divine Worship a somewhat public 
inquiry into private religious history, cannot be agree- 
able, and cannot be useful. 

33* 389 



390 PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION. 

The Pastoral visiting which we recommend and treat 
of, is the friendly, unceremonious visit of a Pastor. He 
never forgets that he is the Ambassador of Christ, but 
does not obtrude it. He sinks the officer in the friend. 
He bears in mind the Christian, whilst remembering 
that he is a partner in the social circle where his people 
move ; that he has like interests, cares, and wants with 
them : is with them living in the world, whilst jour- 
neying towards a heavenly home. As a visitor then, 
not only does he not separate himself from his people, 
but by every means draws near to them. Yet his high 
vocation and his religious purpose in the visit is always 
at hand ; so that every topic, which will bear it, is 
turned to a spiritual use; every opening for religious 
conversation is improved ; and as a rule, -every visit is 
made an occasion of direct religious improvement to 
some one or all ; and when possible is made the occasion 
of some appropriate religious act. A visit is not neces- 
sarily a lost visit, nor an unpastoral visit, if religious 
instruction has not been given, or a direct religious 
impression has not been produced. No Pastor will be 
quite satisfied with such a visit ; and yet it may be an 
opening wedge for important religious influence over a 
family, to be improved on a happier occasion. Never- 
theless the highest style of Pastoral visiting — that 
which must be sought after, and will be reached in the 
habits of maturing years — is that in which it is under- 
stood that the Pastor comes to look after the spiritual 
interests of his flock. That is to be the main topic of 
conversation. And the visit should be of such a char- 
acter, that in the course of it a word of prayer would 
at least not be incongruous. The Rev. Dr. Moore, of 



PASTORAL VISITING. 39] 

Staten Island, and his father Bishop Moore of Vir- 
ginia, were noted for the skill and affectionate piety 
by which they were able to lead their hosts to holy 
thoughts during Pastoral visits, so that they could 
always say, " Let us have a word of prayer before we 
part." That phrase is still traditional in the commu- 
nities to whose religious life they gave a tone. It 
would be happier for the Church, and would more 
nearly realize our Saviour's intention, if such a custom 
were general. 

Bridges well defines the character of pastoral inter- 
course as " a- conciliatory, close, affectionate, and spiritual 
contact with our people, combining the dignity with 
the condescension and humanity of our office, both 
inviting confidence and repressing familiarity. Such 
as would enable us to give prudent advice if necessary 
in matters of family management without being deemed 
intrusive; and will permit us to offer religious in- 
struction without being regarded as officious." 

All visits to our people which directly or even in- 
directly bear this aspect, and as a part of our system 
aim at this end, may be- regarded as Pastoral visits : 
for a Pastoral visit is the friendly, unceremonious visit 
of a Pastor. 

Duty. — The duty of constant Pastoral intercourse, 
arises both from our spiritual relations, and from our 
office. I have so often alluded to the peculiarly inti- 
mate spiritual character of these relations, and so en- 
tirely are all our pastoral duties based upon these ideas, 
that it is not necessary now to enlarge on this topic. 
But rather let attention be fixed on the solemn charge, 
which is received when one is ordained to the Pastoral 



392 PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION. 

care. How can this holy work be fulfilled without in- 
timate affectionate religious personal intercourse with 
our people ? 

To strengthen our impression of this duty, let it be 
observed, how much of our Saviour's ministration was 
Pastoral. He preached few sermons, but he was con- 
stant in private and social conversations, and in visiting 
of families.* 

So the Apostles. Saint Paul speaking to the Elders 
of Ephesus made a point of the fact that he had taught 
from house to house. And wherever the Gospel had 
large hold upon the hearts of people in Apostolic days 
we read that the Apostles and other ministers were 
constantly engaged in carrying their public instructions 
home, into the privacy of the family circle. Note the 
wonderful influence which Saint Paul's preaching at 
Iconium possessed, after he had spent a week in Pas- 
toral labor; going from house to house, proclaiming 
the truth, explaining, removing difficulties, and teach- 
ing to families the language of the new science of 
Christianity. "The whole city was moved !" 

Constant illustrations of the same thing are given in 
the lives of eminently successful ministers. 

" There will," saith Dr. Hammond, ""be little matter of doubt 
or controversy, but that private, frequent, spiritual conference be- 
tw&t fellow-Christians, but especially (and in matters of high 
concernment and difficulty) between the Presbyter and those of 
his charge, even in the time of health, may prove very advan- 
tageous to the making of the man of God perfect." 

* Lazarus' house ; the house at Cana ; Simon the Pharisee's ; 
Peter's (wife's mother) ; Zaccheus ; Emmaus ; these visits were 
significant of a custom. 



DUTY. 393 

" And to tell truth," says Baxter, " if the pride and self-conceit 
of some, and wretchlessness of others, the bashfulness of the third 
sort, the nauseating and instant satiety of any good in a fourth, the 
follies of men, and the artifices of Satan, have not put this practice 
quite out of fashion among us, there is no doubt but more good 
might be done by ministers this way, than is now done by any 
other means separated from the use of this. It is the more likely 
way, as Quintillian saith, (comparing public and private teaching 
of youth,) to fill narrow-mouthed bottles, (and such are the most 
of us,) by taking them singly in the hand, and pouring water 
into each, than by setting them altogether, and throwing never 
so many bottles of water over them." 

" The ignorant soul," saith Grurnall,* " feels no such smart : if 
the minister stay till he sends for him to instruct him, he may 
sooner hear the bell go for him, than any messenger come for 
him : you must seek them out, and not expect that they will come 
to you." "These are a sort of people that are more afraid 
of their remedy than their disease, and study more to hide their 
ignorance, than how to have it cured ; which should make us 
pity them the more, because they can pity themselves so little. 
I confess it is no small unhappiness to some of us, who have to do 
with a multitude, that we have neither time nor strength to make 
our addresses to every particular person in our congregations, and 
attend on them as their needs require. Let not the difficulty of 
our province make us like some, who when they see they have 
more work upon their hands than they can well despatch, grow 
sick of it, and sit down out of a lazy despondency, and do just 
nothing. Oh, if once our hearts were filled with zeal for God, 
and compassion to our people's souls, we would up and be doing, 
though we could lay but a brick a day ! and God will be with 
. us. It may be, you who find a people rude and ignorant, like 
stones in the quarry and trees unfelled, shall not bring the work 
to such perfection in your days as you desire I Yet, as David 
did for Solomon, thou mayest by pains in teaching, prepare ma- 
terials for another, who shall rear the temple." 

In these days the duty is especially obvious, for our 

* Complete Armour. 



394 PASTORAL VISITING. 

social system is undergoing fundamental changes. Old 
ideas of the possibility or wisdom of isolation are 
passing away. The tendency of the times is to 
throw society into a mass, irf which individuals shall 
be distinguished only by their separate power of 
rising out of the indiscriminate throng; as it was 
in the elder barbarous days of the beginning of civili- 
zation. The idea of absolute equality, renders free- 
dom of intercourse among all classes a characteristic 
of the times. The Ministry must partake of the 
spirit of the age. They must use it. As they live 
in it, so they must work by it. The social element, 
not as it might be but as it is, is one of the most 
important factors in our present progress. A Min- 
ister must avail himself of it in accomplishing his 
purpose. 

Advantages, — While a Minister's labor in the sanc- 
tuary and the pulpit may be more conspicuous, the 
Pastor's real character will be exhibited in his dealing 
with separate souls, when the eye of the Church is not 
on him, " but in which (says the Bishop of Oxford ad- 
dressing his students) your flock will feel even more 
truly than in your public services, your weakness or 
your strength." The advantages of Pastoral visiting 
may be classified as related to the Pastor, or to the 
People. 

Pastoral visiting is instructive to the Pastor — 

As to the characters with which we have to deal. 

As to the states of mind we have to reach. 

As to the best, and most practical methods. 

As testing our success in preaching. 

As affording topics for useful preaching. 



ADVANTAGES TO THE PASTOR. 395 

As valuable in gaining the confidence and affection 
of our people.* 

The Bishop of Oxford says : 

" It is necessary for us to understand the people. Very many 
clergymen live always in a sort of amiable dream. They speak, 
or think they speak, very plainly in their sermons : their flock 
exhibit no manifest symptom of impatience or fatigue, (for the 
forbearance with, which our people listen to that which conveys 
scarcely an idea to them is really wonderful !) and they conclude 
that all which they have said has been pretty well understood j 
when if they would converse closely with the greater number 
of their hearers, they would often find that scarcely a word of 
one of their best reasoned sermons had really found its way 
into their minds. A physician will not heal his patients by 
dreams of their convalescence while he is ignorant of their 
malady. We can never hope to make our sermons thoroughly 
intelligible unless we are in the habit of conversing with our 
people, unless we sound them, to see how far we have reached 
their minds, and where we have failed. Such an examination 
would reveal a startling result to some who have been accus- 
tomed to regard their public efforts with not a little secret 
satisfaction." 

Closely connected with these points is the following 
important consideration, for impressing which I use the 
words of the same author : 

"Pastoral visitation maintains in us the habits and temper 
essential for success. By it we keep alive reality of feeling 
toward our people. God has so formed us, that we must touch 
others closely in their particular wants, trials, sorrows, and joys, 
if we w T ould really sympathize with them. When therefore we 
merely address a general congregation from the pulpit, instead 
of dealing with our people in detail, we almost certainly become 
unreal. We learn to substitute the play of feeling which weprac- 

* These are admirably treated by Bridges, Christian Ministry, 
Part V. 



396 PASTORAL VISITING. 

Use when speaking to numbers for actual Christian sympathy. 
The instruction which pours into us when we patiently watch 
by sick-beds, grapple closely with sick consciences, bind up as 
with our own hands the soul's wounds, and pour into stricken 
hearts the balm of Christ's gospel, all this store of instruction 
is withheld from us. We grow accustomed to throw our spirit 
into the attitude of general compassion and sympathy without 
really compassionating : and so we become soft, sickly, effemi- 
nate declaimers about feelings we do not know and efforts we 
are too selfish to make. And this lack of reality of feeling 
grievously injures our own soul and weakens our ministry."* 

Pastoral visiting is advantageous to the People — be- 
cause it enables us to apply our instruction in details ; 
to follow them into the daily duties of life ; and par- 
ticularly, to repeat in conversational methods what we 
have said in the less familiar style of the pulpit ; and 
thus not only to enable them to understand us, but to 
make sure that they do comprehend. 

It enables us to impress the fact that religion is in- 
tended to make part of every one's daily life. It is not 
for the Sunday only, nor for the hours of public wor- 
ship only : but the truths we preach and the precepts 
we enjoin, are to be carried into the practical religion 
of every day. There is a remarkable tendency, as the 
Bishop of Oxford remarks, "to lead two lives totally 
distinct from each other." 

u Persons are disposed to be religious up to a certain point in 
their feelings ; to say their prayers, to come to church, perhaps 
occasionally to attend the Holy Communion, but they are sorely 
tempted not to apply what they hear to the government of their 
daily lives, or to connect these occasional acts and feelings with 
their ordinary conduct. Nay, even beyond this, they will be 

* Bishop of Oxford, p. 166. 



ADVANTAGES TO THE PEOPLE. 397 

tempted to substitute these religious feelings and this religious 
knowledge for prompt and hearty obedience in the detailed trials 
of daily life. Now nothing will, under God's blessing, more help 
in making practical that which they thus feel, than our carrying 
out the general instruction of the pulpit into the closer lessons 
of personal ministerial converse." 

It enables us to explain misapprehensions ; of which 
not a few occur even in the most intelligent congrega- 
tion, under the cleverest and clearest of preachers. 

It enables us to take advantage of Providential open- 
ings to produce religious impressions: for example, of 
sickness, sorrow, or joys, the turns of circumstances and 
the thousand varieties in each family life; which of 
course cannot be alluded to in the pulpit, but may 
readily be and indeed are expected to become the sub- 
jects of Pastoral conversation. 

" Just as the careful cultivator of the soil watches his 
time for more successful labor, and lets no change of 
atmosphere or sunshine pass by unimproved, but gains 
a more abundant produce from this day's heat and that 
day's shower, because a ready diligence turned both to 
an immediate purpose; so is it in our spiritual hus- 
bandry. All the turns of their lives become openings 
for good to the hand of a skilful and loving diligence, 
which watches over our people as having to give an 
account of them." 

Pastoral visiting enables us to reach many who will 
not come to church : and many who cannot. The first 
we meet by happily intended accident, and speak a 
word in season. The second we meet of set purpose, 
and carry to them the Gospel and its sympathy. 

It is valuable, because by it we may maintain unity; 

34 



398 PASTORAL VISITING. 

check differences and dissensions; heal bitter waters at 
the fountain before their streams shall have had oppor- 
tunity to spread brackish deathfulness over the banks 
where Ave had sown good seed. Many a difficulty in a 
parish would have been prevented by a genial frank 
Pastoral visit. Such visits have great effect also in 
preserving and keeping thoroughly alive a love for the 
Church. 

It is a means of attracting all the members of a 
family, and especially children, to the Pastor, drawing 
out and fostering their affections towards him. 

" They must have seen us in their families, heard us 
by the sick-bed, felt individually that we do care for 
their bodies, and so learned to believe that we do really 
care for their souls, before they can give us that atten- 
tion of love which opens the heart to our words."* 

Pastoral visiting encourages family religion: an op- 
portunity may occur, or may be made, for introducing 
family Prayer; especially if the Pastor's visit is in the 
evening, and the family is alone. A valuable oppor- 
tunity is offered to impress the subject of religious in- 
struction of children; opportunities are gained for 
guiding the reading of a family; and if the Parish is 
blessed with a good parish library, the Pastor may 
absolutely direct the course of family reading, and 
that without undue influence or any appearance of 
authority. 

The servants' place in the family may be recognized 
by Pastoral visiting. Nor should visiting the servants 
ever be neglected by a Pastor when they are members 

* Bishop of Oxford, p. 159. 



ADVANTAGES TO THE PEOPLE. 399 

of the Church. In this latter case he will contrive 
some way by which they may receive his visit, as a dis- 
tinctly recognized part of his Pastoral care. Generally, 
after visiting the other members of a family, it is 
proper to ask to see those domestics who are our parish- 
ioners. I have never experienced any difficulty in dis- 
charging this duty, even amidst the peculiarly artificial 
rules of society in the metropolis. The master or mis- 
tress of the house have always manifested great pleas- 
ure in encouraging this Pastoral attention to those on 
whom their family comfort and happiness so much 
depends. 



PASTORAL VISITING. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE DIFFICULTIES OF PASTORAL VISITING. 

Tlie chief difficulty of this duty arises out of in- 
disposition to the exertions or self-denials which it 
requires. 

Natural selfishness interposes. It is not easy to throw 
oneself into sympathy with others ; not easy to make 
their cases our own, nor to feel that they need that 
peculiar personal labor which can alone bring ourselves 
into close contact with their difficulties. It is quite 
natural, too, to find excuses for omitting the trouble- 
some parts of this duty, in the obvious necessity of 
caring for our own intellectual or spiritual improve- 
ment, and the comfort of our family. 

Love of ease interposes. This is a sore temptation. 
A little fatigue, a slight indisposition, the trouble and 
exertion of a visit, anything out of which our desire 
for ease can make an excuse, may be a hindrance to 
discharging this duty. On this subject the Bishop of 
Oxford says : 

u How many favorite tastes must be abandoned before our 
people can be really to us objects of supreme interest. What- 
ever stands in the way must be abandoned. This is why a really 
efficient parish priest cannot be a keen sportsman, or an eager 
400 



DIFFICUL TIES. 40 1 

politician, or a man of pleasure or devoted to society, or even 
given up to literature, because he cannot be any of these, and 
yet be indeed giving the first and best part of his heart and 
affections to his people, as he must do if he intends to save him- 
self and them. Perhaps, for instance, he has not naturally any 
liking for children ; an idle clergyman, so disposed, leaves his 
school to the schoolmaster, and the children, who will not come 
to school, to that busy school which the devil keeps for uncared- 
for children in most of our streets. Yet, on the other hand, he 
must have had many an interrupted meal, got up when he wished 
to lie in bed, left friends with whom he wished to stay, refused 
invitations he would have liked to accept, borne with noise, and 
fractiousness, and dulness, and close rooms, if he has indeed won 
the children to himself and to God; and, through them, many 
parents who but through them would have been forever unap- 
proachable."* 

Procrastination is a terrible hinderer; and yet the 
nature of this duty is such, that immediateness is one 
of the most valuable elements in Pastoral visiting. 
Just when the emergency demands, it should be met. 
A visit deferred is often an opportunity forever lost. 

A peculiar class of difficulties occurs from the pressure 
of clerical duties. They are multifarious, and it is not 
easy to give them their proportionate value. Conse- 
quently there is a temptation to omit that which will 
cause the least observation and remark. Failure in a 
visit will not be so prominent, or observed, as failure in 
a sermon, and therefore the visit is postponed. Other 
similar illustrations will readily occur to any one who 
chooses to reflect on the subject. 

Fear of contracting or conveying disease sometimes 
leads a Clergyman to delay, or sometimes to omit a 



* Addresses, p. 206. 
34* 



402 PASTORAL VISITING. 

visit to a sick parishioner. This fear, if personal only, 
should at once be overcome, or at all events disregarded. 
In the case of contagious diseases, the duty may be 
measured by the necessity of the case. A visit to a 
thorough Christian who is known to be prepared for 
death may not be necessary, if the danger of conveying 
disease to others thereby is imminent; whilst a visit to 
a parishioner who is unprepared to die should certainly 
be made at all hazards. A Minister may exercise dis- 
cretion in judging of the necessity: but if a visit is 
necessary or advisable, it should be made with as little 
hesitation as a Physician feels. The Minister is to use 
the same precautions against contagion as a Physician 
employs. Nor is there any serious danger to one who 
comes out of the fresh air, and immediately after the 
visit breathes the fresh air again. The danger is not 
at all as great as that which the medical adviser, or the 
nurse faces ; and yet they are seldom affected by the 
contagion. " With men of a certain temperament the 
inclination to guard their own safety by staying away 
from the sick room is a great temptation. And yet to 
yield to it is really fatal to our usefulness, not only with 
the sick, whom we thus leave with no man to help them, 
just when the angel of the Lord has troubled the 
waters of life around them, but with all our parish- 
ioners; who cannot believe in the reality of the priestly 
office, or our own sincerity in discharging it, if they 
see us at such a moment shrink back from our manifest 
duty."* 

Natural timidity ', want of boldness in dealing with 

* Addresses, pages 207, 208. 



DIFFICULTIES. 403 

men, want of self-confidence, often render Pastoral 
visiting difficult, and sometimes hinder it altogether. 
These must be cured if possible ; must be set aside at 
all events. The visits must be made in spite of them. 
And generally, a fair degree of ease and self-possession 
can be obtained by effort, and perseverance, and will 
be the result of habit. Almost every one at first ex- 
periences some shrinking from this duty. Those who 
do not experience timidity are likely to run into an 
opposite extreme, equally unfortunate. Fondness for 
society may mislead them, or self-confident boldness 
may make their visits repulsive. 

A dread of coming face to face tvith spiritual disorders 
and perplexities is a subtle and serious form of difficulty 
interfering with the habit of Pastoral visitation. Close 
grappling of mind with mind and spirit w^ith spirit is 
an essential condition for dealing effectually with the 
soul of another. " Some draw back with a sort of 
instinctive avoidance of the realities of the inner life, 
just as they perceive that the stricken soul is about to 
open to them its grief; and often half nervously throw 
in some unmeaning generality, which shuts up forever 
the heart which might, had it truly revealed its secret 
burden, have been led to Christ."* 

This tendency must be carefully watched and guarded 
against. Many an opportunity to strike a blow for the 
truth is lost because timidity, or a false notion of the 
expediency of waiting for a better occasion, leads a 
Pastor to hesitate. Whilst hesitating, the opportunity 
passes away forever. It must not be forgotten that 

* Addresses, page 209. 



404 PASTORAL VISITING. 

parishioners see, as readily as a Pastor can, the opening 
which has been given for direct spiritual instruction. 
Sometimes they make it of set purpose, hoping that 
the Pastor will probe their wound or examine their 
malady, and propound a cure. If he neglects the 
opportunity, a disappointment is not the only result. 
They charge the neglect upon indifference ; and are too 
apt to conclude either that the Pastor is unworthy of 
his office, or that their danger is less than his public 
exhortations have led them to conclude. In either way 
his influence is lost, and it may be, their souls will be 
lost also. 

Correctives. 

These difficulties arising from natural constitution 
and the intrinsic unpleasantness of meeting and grap- 
pling with spiritual troubles in private intercourse, are 
to be overcome only by prayer, by determined effort, 
by manly resolution, and by representing to ourselves 
in a strong light our duty, our obligations, and our 
privilege. 

An important corrective is, a decision that Pastoral 
visiting is a supreme duty. Being so, we determine 
to give it a place and an hour in our daily work. We 
make it part of our daily labor, no more to be neg- 
lected than study, or writing, or our meals. 

But the real correctives are to be found in such con- 
siderations as those which Bishop Wilberforce has 
urged with inimitable power. I refer my readers to 
his Addresses, and beg them to read, especially, the 
pages from 210 to 213. I quote some pregnant sen- 
tences. 



CORRECTIVES. 405 

u The creeping moss of soul-sluggishness can be kept down 
only by the continual arts of a vigorous self-denial. Whoever 
enters on the ministry as an easy profession, whoever suffers it to 
become such to him, is sure to lose the distinctive features of the 
Pastor's character." 

" We must constantly remember the inestimable value of the 
souls for which we watch : often muse on their awful capacity 
of life or death everlasting, and on the certain connection be- 
tween these almost infinite issues and what seem to be the trifles 
of this present life. How can we meet them before the bar of 
God if, through our sinful self-indulgence, w T e have let them 
perish ; how can we cry for mercy, clinging as we must do for our- 
selves to that Cross which, had we been faithful, might have saved 
both them and us." 

" We must remember the price at which they were redeemed, 
and Who it is that has committed them to our charge. Can we, 
for the sake of a little passing pleasure or the softness of a drowsy 
ease, let them perish whom Christ committed to our charge, 
when the Blood of our dearest Lord was shed for their redemp- 
tion ?" 

"We must seek more earnestly and more continually from 
Him the gift of love to Himself. This is His own lesson to us ; 
the l Lovest thou Me?' must go before the 'Feed My lambs;' 
nothing else but love to Him will keep alive and quick within 
our hearts a true love to them ; nothing else will keep our hearts 
tender to the routine of duties." 

" Here, then, is the close of all. If we would watch diligently 
for our brethren, we must love our Lord. We must, beneath 
His Cross, on our knees, in our own struggle against sin, in re- 
ceiving our own deliverance, in hearing His voice, in receiving 
His benediction, in eating His flesh, in drinking His blood, learn 
to love Him, and for His sake to love our brethren. Then will 
the most difficult duties become light, because all things are easy 
to love ; then shall we in our daily visiting and ministrations be 
taught by the Spirit of our Lord how to copy Him, and under- 
stand His words: 'If I, then, your Lord and Master, have 
washed your feet, ye ought also to wash one another's feet. For 
I "have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done 
to you.' " 



PASTORAL VISITING. 



CHAPTER XXVIL 

THE MODES OF VISITING. 

These should be varied according to cases ; varying 
as visits to the "whole," the "sick," the afflicted, and 
the troubled. 

Visiting "the whole" 

A minister must here be left largely to his discretion, 
for few rules can be formulated. Visits to people who 
are in health must not be neglected, and should be made 
equally to the poor and the rich. Some distinctions in 
method must be observed between visits to irreligious 
and to religious families ; and to these we refer. 

Visiting irreligious families. — -Proper skill must be 
employed not to offend by harsh forcing of the Gospel, 
so as to exclude oneself from the privilege of visiting 
thereafter. Yet proper boldness in speaking of the 
Gospel should always be employed. A Pastor may 
possibly forget his ministerial character, but irreligious 
people never forget it. They expect him to speak to 
them about religious things; will be disappointed if he 
does not, even if they revile him for so doing. They 
w r ill not lose respect for his faithfulness, if he ventures 
for Christ's sake. Especially when children are pres- 
ent, some word must be dropped for them and for the 
406 



OF THE WHOLE. 407 

sake of proper influence over them. Some special 
event in family life, or some irregularity of the family 
in outward religious observances, may give an opening 
to the subject. Yet the subject of religion should never 
be introduced by way of reproof, unless the offence is an 
open scandal. Rather let it come in way of advice; 
and if possible, by the use of leading questions, let those 
who are in error correct themselves. A Pastors object 
is not to put himself in the right, but to induce his 
people to adopt the right. 

Never scold. Never allow your passions to be in- 
flamed. Grief is the Pastor's emotion, not anger. 
Never allow any one, especially an ungodly person, to 
think that a reproof originates in interested motives ; 
for example, in objecting to one's absence from church, 
do not let it be supposed that your reproof has a selfish 
motive, or originated in the thought that disrespect or 
neglect were intended to you. Never allow children 
to hear a reproof given to their parents: or anything 
which they might interpret as such. No success in 
remedying a parent's fault could compensate for the 
evil of having shaken a child's confidence in the char- 
acter of that parent. 

Pastoral visiting to irreligious families may produce 
little more visible result than the cultivating of their 
affectionate interest in their Pastor, and engaging their 
confidence towards him. But it will scarcely ever fail 
in preparing the way for his visits to become acceptable 
should sickness or sorrow intervene, or especially at 
those times which happily occur to all, when spiritual 
anxiety approaches a soul. 

A visit should never be intrusive. Suit the conver- 



408 PASTORAL VISITING. 

sation to the condition and employment of those visited. 
Use subjects which you know are familiar to them to 
draw them out in talking; and lead gradually from 
those, the more familiar, to religion, the less familiar. 
Vinet, speaking of Pastoral visits, says : 

"If you would instruct your parishioner, associate the truth 
with his duties ; your ideas, with his daily labors. Let his 
harvest-field remind him of the conversation you had with him 
when he was sowing ; let the cutting of his second crop recall 
the ideas you unfolded to him when he was mowing his hay ; and, 
in a word, let him find you everywhere, and let him everywhere 
love to find you. But how may this be if you venture to go no- 
where ? How attach him to his duties when you seem to be so 
little concerned to make him love them ? How shall he not fear 
his yoke (and this fear is the pest of a virtue) if you fear so much 
to touch it? How not hate his condition, if those whom he 
thinks happy so carefully estrange themselves from it?"* 

It is important to make yourself familiar with the 
employments of the several members of your flock, if 
you are to interest them by means of conversation which 
bears upon these employments. Study the general rules 
of farming, shoemaking, carpentering, as well as the 
laws of natural philosophy. Study the principles of 
exchange and brokerage as well as your theology. 
Study society and social life as well as the Communion 
of Saints. Everything is grist that comes to the mill 
of a wise conversationalist. By all means he saves his 
people. 

I do not know much about shoemaking, still I have 
not been unobservant of the cordwainer's task, and 
have often enjoyed the homely wisdom which is em- 

* Yinet, p. 248. 



OF THE WHOLE. 409 

phasizecl by hammer blows on the lapstone. On one 
occasion after I had been talking with a sensible shoe- 
maker, at a village reception, he said to a friend, "Do 
you know our Bishop learned the trade! Certainly, he 
did; for he knows a world about it." That man has 
always listened to me with marked attention since that 
evening, for he is convinced now that I must know 
something about shoeing a man with the " preparation 
of the Gospel of Peace." 

But, on the other hand, of course one should talk 
about such things, only so far as he knows. The au- 
thor of "Recreations of a Country Parson" tells us, that 
John Robertson of Glasgow Cathedral is responsible 
for this little bit of pleasant satire : 

" If ye're goin' about," said the farmer to the clergy- 
man, "John will be unco weel pleased, if yo speak to 
him and say it's a fine day, or the like 6' that: but 
dinna," said the farmer, with much solemnity, "dinna 
say onything to him about plowin' and sawin': for 
John is a stupid body, but he has been plowin' and 
sawin' all his life, and he'll see in a minute that ye ken 
naething about plowin' and sawin'; and then," said the 
sagacious old farmer with extreme earnestness, "if he 
comes to think that yo ken naething about plowin' and 
sawin', he'll think that ye ken naething about ony- 
thing." 

Visits to religious families. — A Pastor has little dif- 
ficulty here. With ordinary discretion, and proper ob- 
servance of times and seasons, his visits may always be 
profitable, and directly available spiritually. 

But even in religious families, especially in city life, 
it is not always advisable to turn Pastoral visiting into 
s 35 



410 PASTORAL VISITING. 

religious meetings. A Pastor must observe times. It 
is well to sit down beside the wash-tub, or work bench, 
when necessary, and while work goes on direct our 
hearer's thoughts to heaven and Christ. This was the 
custom of the Rev. Sayre Harris in South wark, Phila- 
delphia. But it might not be well to interrupt the 
cooking or the dinner of a family by prayer. In a city 
it would be very mal a propos to force a family into a 
prayer meeting in the midst of visiting hours. A 
Clergyman (not now in this country) called on a fash- 
ionable lady in Cincinnati, (not now living,) in the 
midst of visiting hours. Knowing his habit, she sent 
for the servant and said "not at home, until I tell 
you" : then went into the parlor, listened to the lecture 
and heard the prayer : and then recalling the order to 
the servant, w r ent on with the visiting. What doth 
that profit ? 

Yet it would be equally unjustifiable to meet with a 
religious family when the day's work is done, when 
visiting hours are past, when evening has closed in, 
when children and servants can be gathered, and to 
bid them all farewell without having read the Scrip- 
tures, or offered prayer to God in their behalf, and with 
them. 

Visiting " the Sick" 

A Minister has here a serious and delicate duty : 
serious because the result of disease can seldom be 
positively forecast ; important, because of the peculiar 
susceptibility of the sick to impressions of religious 
truth, and the possibility of rendering true and lasting 
spiritual service to them; delicate, because of a peculiar 
sensitiveness in the sick, which needs to be tenderly and 



OF THE SICK. 411 

judiciously approached, and because medical advisers 
frequently think that clerical visits to the sick do not 
assist recovery. 

Promptness, is of first importance. The Physician 
should not be in advance of the Pastor, if a like notice 
has been given to them both. If the spiritual adviser 
cannot administer as immediately as the other, at least 
he can carry assurance of sympathy, and can strengthen 
the patient by evidence that a brother is near and feels. 
A Pastor should take every reasonable means of se- 
curing due notice of cases of sickness. Many parish- 
ioners seem possessed with the idea that a Minister's 
visit is of no value until a sick person has been given 
up by the Physician. Consequently, a Clergyman at 
the house of the sick is regarded as a sure forerunner 
of the Angel of Death. He is a sort of spiritual un- 
dertaker. Alas ! for the Pastor whose neglect of his 
sick and invalid parishioners has given color to such a 
notion of his sacred office. Another class of persons 
demands that a Clergyman shall have an intuitive 
knowledge of the encroachments of disease, as indeed 
of all other circumstances either of joy or sorrow. I 
have known some who would rather have died in the 
uncomfortable persuasion that they were neglected by 
their Pastor, than have taken the pains to send notice 
to him of their affliction. But as a Pastor is not om- 
niscient, and as his visits in the sick room to be of 
much benefit should be made during the earlier rather 
than the later stages of disease, he should take wise 
means of obtaining due notice. It is well to mention 
the subject occasionally, publicly in the church. It is 
wise to speak of it in Pastoral visiting. It is better, 



412 PASTORAL VISITING. 

to be on such friendly terms with every member of 
the flock, that their first thought in any trouble, and 
especially in sickness, will be to ask for their Pastor's 
presence. 

As soon as the need occurs a Pastor should be prompt 
in visiting the patient. No delicacy is an excuse for 
delay. A call will be welcomed, even if it should 
prove not to be of immediate service to the sick person. 
A Pastor's visits to the sick room should be as much a 
matter of course as a Physician's. Where this is the 
rule, there will be no suggestion that a Minister's visit 
can be unwholesome. Other things being equal, it is 
only when a Minister's visits are a novelty that they 
are likely to excite a patient unduly. Yinet says : 

" If the pastor should wait to be sent for, he would run the 
risk of never visiting the sick. We must desire to be called, 
we must in some way contrive to be; but called or not called, 
we must go." "Whatever prejudice we may have to encounter, 
how can we forbear when we know how important are seasons 
of sickness to the life of the soul, and that often apparent indif- 
ference conceals the germ of a new life not to be discovered 
except by the zeal of a pastor who hopes against hope? The 
first visit, we should remember, is the most difficult, and often 
the only difficult one. We should know how to be importunate, 
yet always with gentleness. We should not force an entrance, 
but return again and again, until affectionate patience prevails, 
and the door opens itself to us. Let us not be sustained and 
animated merely by a desire to discharge our responsibility ; a 
narrow and fruitless motive truly. Love alone has no limits, 
and is never weary. "* 

Blunt, speaking on the same subject, says : 

" Do not wait to be formally apprised by the sufferer himself. 
He will often delay to do it till the time when you could have 

* Pastoral Theology, page 277. 



OF THE SICK. 413 

helped him is gone past; and though in such instances you may 
plead technically want of notice for want of attendance, and 
screen your lukewarm ness under a law ; yet if you do know of 
the case, by whatever means, that, in for o conscientice , is notice 
enough ; and God will count it so, when He comes to reckon 
with you for the discharge of your trust. And if you are aware 
of channels by which you can readily certify yourselves of such 
particulars, and refuse to use them, your ignorance becomes 
wilful, and your consequent inactivity without excuse." 

u The case once reported, you will lose no time in acting upon 
the report; nor then, nor yet afterwards in the progress of the 
sickness, put off a visit till to-morrow. "* 

Plenty of time must be given to these visits. A 
Minister should never exhibit haste in visiting the sick. 
Some Physicians err in this regard, much to the injury 
of their patients. It is even less excusable in a. Cler- 
gyman : for, generally he has more command of his 
engagements than a physician can have. Whatever be 
the pressure on our time, it should never be seen by 
the patient. The ingenuity of true friendship, and a 
lively sympathy will always enable a Pastor to meet 
this exigency. Certainly if one duty should ever be 
sacrificed to another, duty to those in health must be 
postponed to duty to the suffering or dying. By 
sufficient forethought one can usually arrange so that 
these duties will not conflict. I do not remember ever 
to have been troubled by such a conflict of duties, 
except in one case, when I was called upon, suddenly, 
just at the hour of service, to prevent a young man 
from committing suicide. I could not 'leave him. 
As the bell stopped tolling, and I was alone with 
him, he was fainting under the effort to strangle him- 

* Blunt, Pastoral Office, p. 227. 
35* 



414 PASTORAL VISITING. 

self. I untied the knot, and waited for a policeman, 
who had been sent for, and who was to wateh against 
a repetition of the attempt. It was better that the 
congregation should wait for half an hour, than that 
the man should hurry himself unsummoned into eter- 
nity.* 

Such imminent cases do not often occur. A Pastor 
can generally prevent the conflict of duties. At all 
hazards, he must prevent any appearance of haste in 
his visits to the sick room, or what might be construed 
into want of sympathy with his sick friend. Blunt 
well says, " Neither will you make it in haste, and as 
if you had more important business to transact else- 
where ; it would be difficult to persuade either the sick 
man or his friends that you were in earnest, if they saw 
your thoughts evidently wandering from the scene 
before you ; nor could they well help entertaining an 
opinion of your heartlessness, when they fancied you 
were hurrying over your interview with perhaps a 
dying man — one, too, so dear to them at least — at the 
call of some secular and (as they might believe) frivolous 
engagement." 

Faithfulness is imperative. Faithfulness, first, in 
his diagnosis of the spiritual condition ; faithfulness, 
next, in dealing with it. But, as a wise Physician, who 
learns from symptoms the serious danger of a patient, 
abstains from showing his anxiety or awakening fear 
until all means of remedy have failed, so a wise Pastor, 
after possessing himself of all the worst features of the 

* The congregation, of course, were not informed of the cause 
of the delay. Those who may remember the circumstance, will 
dow read the reason of it. 



OF THE SICK. 415 

case, perceiving the dangers, restrains his anxieties and 
the manifestation of them until he has tried the effects 
of spiritual remedies. By faithfulness, I do not mean 
brusqueness and harshness and injudicious exposure of 
spiritual danger such as at once damage the healing 
processes, and certainly do not advance a spiritual 
cure. 

A Minister should first discover the physical state 
of his patient ; this from the Physician or attendant : 
and this in order to adapt his religious instructions to 
the bodily condition, and sometimes to the endurance 
of the_ patient. A visit of five minutes is generally 
better than thirty ; five minutes well spent is always 
better than ten wasted in the sick room : sometimes 
one minute is all that a patient can bear in receiving 
even the wisest counsel. 

Next he should discover the mental state of his pa- 
tient ; this, in order to decide wisely as to the spiritual 
indications : for if the mind be unhealthily affected by 
disease, the spiritual symptoms must be interpreted 
accordingly. 

Lastly, he should determine the condition of the 
soul. Then he is to deal with it faithfully. But great 
discretion is to be exercised. A friendly, kind, sympa- 
thetic, gentlemanly consideration will never err : and a 
visit made in such a spirit will be hailed by both patient 
and physician as a blessed adjunct to the healing pro- 
cesses. Under the guidance of such discretion the probe 
may be used effectively ; without frightening, but with- 
out deceiving the patient. By wise use of questions, 
when the invalid is able to answer them, or by judicious 
inquiries from judicious attendants, one may learn to 



416 PASTORAL VISITING. 

what points to direct religious reflections, and especially 
in what manner to guide selections for readings from 
Scripture. No spiritual hurt at such a time is to be 
healed slightly. All harshness of speech is to be 
avoided, whilst great plainness and directness are to be 
used. No ambiguous terms are to be employed. In- 
dulge in no speculations. Make no doubtful points. 
The mind is to be turned away from all mere curious 
questionings to positive truths. Those are, the nature 
of sin and the actual commission of sin, the certainty 
of pardon to one who is truly repentant, restitution 
and amendment as signs of penitence, the act of faith 
or confidence in the Saviour the simplest of all mental 
acts, the absoluteness of the Gospel's offer of justifica- 
tion, its instantaneous effectiveness whenever the heart 
is ready to receive that mercy ; the work of the Holy 
Spirit not as a speculation but as a blessed reality of 
helpfulness, to be laid hold of and made use of. 

The work of the Lord Jesus and the work of the 
Holy Spirit are the two main topics for the sick room ; 
especially when danger is imminent. It may be too 
late to turn the patient to much thinking about him- 
self, or to any self-investigation, but it will never be 
too late to direct him to the merciful Spirit and the 
most gracious Lord who proved his love for us on the 
Cross. 

Our Prayer Book, in its offices for the visitation of 
the sick, contains an address to a sick person and cer- 
tain rubrics that follow it, which together form an in- 
imitable guide. It is not possible to frame a more 
discreet, a more encouraging, or a more wholesome 
exhortation, nor need any one desire to frame a more 



PRACTICAL HINTS. 417 

thoroughly searching inquiry than 1he rubrics have 
prepared. Let it be used as a model ; even if its 
quaintness should sometimes prevent its actual use in 
form. And let every Minister be faithful to those 
most judicious rubrics. 

Practical Hints. 

In ordinary cases of sickness, a Pastor snould make 
his visit known first to the family, and should never 
thrust himself into a patient's room unannounced. He 
has no right to intrude; it is impolite, it is ungentle 
manners; it may annoy the family; it may distress 
and agitate the patient. If the Minister be a stranger, 
(as may sometimes be the case,) let him wait until prep- 
aration has been made for his entrance into the sick 
room. Enter quietly. Avoid using creaking shoes. 
No one needs, and no patient enjoys, that noisy an- 
nouncement. Leave your damp garments, and always 
leave your overcoat, outside of the room, as a thought- 
ful Physician does. Let the hands be without gloves. 
The hands should be carefully warmed before entering 
the room or touching the sick person, or should be 
dried, if wet, or in a perspiration. Salute the patient 
gently. Draw a chair to the side of the bed or couch. 
Place it sufficiently close, so that the sick person may 
be required to make as little exertion as possible in 
speaking: if too near, however, the patient may be 
annoyed. Never breathe into a patient's face. Let 
the Minister's chair be placed in front of the patient — 
never behind him, or so much on one side, that he 
must make an effort to turn in order to see his friend. 

If possible let the interview take place between you 



418 PASTORAL VISITING. 

two alone. You may suggest to the attendants, that 
you will take care of the patient for awhile whilst they 
attend to outside duties. At least arrange that only 
the most intimate relatives be present. This may be 
easily managed before entering the chamber of sickness 
by simply expressing your wish. Attendants generally 
perceive its reasonableness. Freedom of communica- 
tion, is the thing to be attained. And there may be 
burdens on the mind that the patient will roll off on 
the Pastor when alone, which otherwise will weigh 
heavily on him into the grave. Nothing can more 
seriously interfere with the confidences of such an hour, 
with the sick person's readiness to open his griefs, or the 
Minister's frankness in relieving them, than the presence 
of those who are only there to listen. It is an inex- 
cusable habit of gossips to " sit around" to hear every 
word that falls in the course of such a conversation. 
Equally with the Physician, a Minister is the autocrat 
of a sick room : and he should use his authority to clear 
it of all such intruders, before he enters on the sacred 
hour of spiritual communion with his suffering friend. 
Encourage conversation when possible. Let the 
patient talk as much as he desires, when the Physician 
regards it as prudent. But when he cannot converse 
let it be remembered that set lectures are not desirable. 
It is profitable to read successive short passages of 
Scripture, commenting in a few words on each of them. 
They should be chosen with special reference to the 
patient's state of mind, and, with regard to any pecu- 
liarity of experience or of circumstances. Always 
carry with you a Bible in which passages suitable to 
such purposes are marked — or a little book of Scrip- 



PRACTICAL HINTS. 419 

ture quotations like "Brown's Scripture Selections." A 
few verses of an appropriate hymn, or a choice piece 
of poetry, will often furnish the patient with food for 
thought, and relief. Discover the patient's favorite 
hymns or texts and read them. When it will be agree- 
able, and if you can do it agreeably, sing; or arrange 
that others shall sing a hymn by the patient's bedside. 
Watch the symptoms. At the first moment of apparent 
fatigue or restlessness prepare to say " Adieu." It is 
well to leave a text for a patient's meditation; or a 
verse of a hymn. These may form a basis for succeed- 
ing profitable conversations. Always be ready to pray. 
When proper, urge that you should be allowed the 
privilege of offering prayer. In every case prayer 
should be suggested. I cannot imagine a case where a 
Minister should be restrained from suggesting prayer. 
When desired use the Prayer Book. Never can a 
better book be found to lead the devotions of a sick 
room. Learn to pray extempore, and practise it, espe- 
cially in the sick room : but even when praying ex- 
tempore, or by appropriate forms, the Prayer Book 
may well lead your devotions; and its spirit should 
certainly inspire them. Bishop Hobart's Manual, or 
Dr. Bolles' Vade Mecum, are admirable helps. Never 
require a light to be brought, unless the sick person 
desires it. Close your devotions habitually with the 
Lord's Prayer. All sick people desire to repeat it 
with you. Often use the Gloria Patri. Always use 
a Benediction. 

Conversation in the chamber of sickness should 
never be agitated, nor in a loud tone. But it must 
never be in whispers, when the patient is awake. Sick 



420 PASTORAL VISITING. 

people are suspicious ; they make an effort to hear, and 
are worried by such whisperings. Speak not loudly 
but very distinctly. 

The prevailing sentiment of the Pastor in visiting 
the sick should be sympathy. Heard, in his " Pastor 
and the Parish," says: 

11 Instead of commonplaces such as even Job's friends were 
ready to offer, about sickness being the lot of all and submission 
the duty of all, we are to behave in a sick room as a nurse with a 
sick child in her arms. < We were gentle among you, even as a 
nurse cherisheth her children.' It is for the time to be our sick- 
ness. Who is afflicted and I burn not? We are so to burn in the 
fever, to languish with exhaustion, to feel our soul melting away 
for very trouble, and to realize, by sympathy if not by expe- 
rience, that beclouding of the faculties, and with it often of faith 
itself, which is the greatest penalty of sickness." 

" The first thing the good Samaritan did was to apply oil to 
the wounds, and to pour in wine as a cordial for the fainting 
strength. He asked no questions, how, or why the man had 
been waylaid, or of the fight he had made in resisting. Those 
who asked such questions, as the priest and levite probably did, 
came to the conclusion that it was the traveller's own fault, and 
that he must bear the penalty. But the true friend knows there 
is a time to cover up wounds as well as to probe them. In mod- 
ern practice it is the Physician's first care to keep up his patient's 
strength, and he gives stimulants in cases where a few years ago 
he used the lancet. So by the sick bed, the strongest consola- 
tion is not too strong for a poor sufferer. He is not to be told 
about terms of salvation, of faith ripening into assurance, of 
self-exnmination, or whether he is a dissembler before God or not. 
Give wine to him that is weary, and strong drink to him that is 
of a heavy heart. Even the confession of sins is not to be ex- 
tracted as a secret wrung from a dying man, under fear of pass- 
ing unpardoned, unannealed, to the bar of God. The Protestant 
Pastor is no casuist, who can substitute attrition for contrition, 
or penance for penitence. He must wait until the soul flows 
forth of itself to God, and when it flows he must be by rather to 
staunch the wound than to encourage the bleeding, lest the peni- 



PRACTICAL HINTS. 421 

tent should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. A mod- 
erate discovery of the sinfulness of sin is quite as satisfactory at 
first, as one that throws the soul off its balance, and paralyzes it 
for the time from laying hold upon Christ."* 

The attributes to be cherished by a Pastor as to man- 
ner in a sick chamber are gentleness, firmness, consid- 
eration, thoughtfulness, and genuine kindness of heart. 
It is all-important to make careful study and prepara- 
tion for visiting the sick. . One should be very familiar 
with the Psalms: "of which the fervor, the heartiness, 
the fidelity with which they reflect (one or other of 
them) the variety of feelings which takes possession by 
turns of the sick man's mind, render them perhaps, of 
all Holy Writ the most affecting to him, and if prop- 
erly interpreted, the fullest of edification." Blunt 
thinks it would not be an unprofitable task for the 
Pastor of a parish, when experience in visiting the sick 
shall have taught him his wants, to treasure up any 
prayers he may meet with in the course of his studies, 
such as in ancient Liturgies and Sacramentaries — a most 
pregnant mine — or the devotions of Worthies of the 
Church may supply, which he may deem fitted for 
the sick chamber; as also to make memoranda of such 
chapters in the Scriptures as it may be convenient to 
read on such occasions : till by degrees he shall have 
compiled for himself a manual which may be supple- 
mentary to the office for the Visitation of the Sick; and 
some fund of which kind it is scarcely possible to dis- 
pense with. Blunt observes, keenly, " if, when sitting 
by the sick man's side, the Pastor finds his ideas stag- 



* Pastor and Parish, pp. 132, 133. 
36 



422 PASTORAL VISITING. 

nant, and his feelings unmoved — no power to address 
him and no knowledge what to say — he has reason to 
suspect that he has work to do, nearer home, before he 
can be of much use there ; that he must first be con- 
verted himself, and then strengthen his brother." 

Cheerfulness is very essential. It is expected in a 
Physician; it is indispensable in a Pastor. And the 
Pastor has more ground for it than the medical adviser. 
He knows that at most he can only stave off disease and 
death for a little; but the Pastor knows that he can meet 
death, and teach even a dying man to overcome it. 
He has a recipe for destroying the fear of death, and a 
balm which the Physician of Gilead prepared when 
He destroyed its power. 

The Pastor should be careful to carry pleasure to the 
sick room. Florence Nightingale, in her " Notes on 
Nursing," thus advises : 

" Do you who are about the sick or who visit the sick, try and 
give them pleasure, or remember to tell them what will do so ? 
How often in such visits the sick person has to do the whole con- 
versation, exerting his own imagination and memory, while the 
visitor is absorbed in his own anxieties, and makes no effort of 
memory or imagination for the sick person ! ' Oh ! my dear, I 
have so much to think of, I really quite forgot to tell him that ; 
besides, I thought he would know it,' says the visitor to another 
friend. How could he know it? Depend upon it, the people 
who say this are really those who have little ' to think of.' There 
are many burthened with business who always manage to keep a 
pigeon-hole in their minds, full of things to tell the invalid. I 
do not say, don't tell him your anxieties — I believe it is good for 
him, and good for you too ; but if you tell him what may make 
him anxious, surely you can remember to tell him what is pleas- 
ant too." " A sick person does so enjoy hearing good news ; — 
for instance, of a love and courtship, while in progress to a good 
ending. If you tell him only when the marriage takes place, 



PRACTICAL HINTS. 423 

he loses half the pleasure, which G-od knows he has little enough 
of; and ten to one but you have told him of some love making 
with a bad ending."* 

Her hints are so wise and practical that I roust quote 
more of them : 

" A sick person also intensely enjoys hearing of any material 
good, any positive or practical success of the right. He has so 
much of books and fiction, of principles, and precepts, and theo- 
ries ! Do, instead of advising him with advice he has heard at 
least fifty times before, tell him of one benevolent act which has 
really succeeded practically, — it is like a day's health to him. A 
small pet animal is often an excellent companion for the sick, for 
long chronic cases especially. A pet bird in a cage is sometimes 
the only pleasure of an invalid confined for years to the same 
room. If he can feed and clean the animal himself, he ought 
always to be encouraged to do so." " You have no idea what the 
craving of the sick with undiminished power of thinking, but 
little power of doing, is to hear of a good practical action, when 
they can no longer partake in it." "Do observe these things 
with the sick. Do remember how their life is to them disap- 
pointed and incomplete. You see them lying there with miser- 
able disappointments from which they can have no escape but 
death, and you can't remember to tell them of what would give 
them so much pleasure, or at least an hour's variety." 

11 They don't want you to be lachrymose and whining with 
them, they like you to be fresh and active and interested, but 
they cannot bear absence of mind, and they are so tired of the 
advice and preaching they receive from everybody, no matter 
whom it is, they see." 

11 There is no better society than babies and sick people for one 
another. Of course you must manage this so that neither shall 
suffer from it, which is perfectly possible. If you think the ' air 
of the sick room bad for the baby,' why it is bad for the invalid 
too, and therefore, you will of course correct it for both. It 
freshens up a sick person's whole mental atmosphere to see ' the 

* Notes on Nursing, pp. 102—4. 



424 PASTORAL VISITING. 

baby. ; And a very young child, if unspoiled, will generally 
adapt itself wonderfully to the ways of a sick person, if the time 
they spend together is not too long." 

" If you knew how unreasonably sick people suffer from reason- 
able causes of distress, you would take more pains about all these 
things. An infant laid upon the sick bed will do the sick person, 
thus suffering, more good than all your logic. A piece of good 
news will do the same. Perhaps you are afraid of ( disturbing' 
him. You say there is no comfort for his present cause of afflic- 
tion. It is perfectly reasonable. The distinction is this, if he is 
obliged to act, do not i disturb' him with another subject of 
thought just yet ; help him to do what he wants to do ; but, if he 
has done this, or if nothing can be done, then ' disturb' him by all 
means. You will relieve, more effectually, unreasonable suffer- 
ing from reasonable causes by telling him ' the news,' showing 
him ' the baby,' or giving him something new to think of or to 
look at, than by all the logic in the world." 

" It has been very justly said that the sick are like children in 
this, that there is no proportion in events to them. Now it is 
your business as their visitor to restore this right proportion for 
them — to show them what the rest of the world is doing. How 
can they find it out otherwise? You will find them far more 
open to conviction than children in this. And you will find that 
their unreasonable intensity of suffering from unkindness, from 
want of sympathy, etc., will disappear with their freshened in- 
terest in the big world's events. But then you must be able to 
give them real interests, not gossip." 

Reading for the sick. — I recommend as a spiritual 
guide, "Sickness, its trials and its blessings." But 
in the line of Miss Nightingale's most wise sugges- 
tions, there is much reading that will benefit them, 
beside Scripture and its cognates. Nevertheless whilst 
other friends may read on other subjects, a Pastor 
can have little time except for that class of reading 
which is directly applicable to the spiritual needs of 
his patient. 



PROLONGED DISEASE. 425 

Visiting in cases of prolonged disease* — The Pastor 
should prepare a course of instruction. It need not be 
apparent, nor should its systematic character be ob- 
truded ; but the parts should hang together, so naturally, 
that the patient will follow the successive portions in 
successive visits and remember them without difficulty. 
The benefit will be felt not less by the patient than the 
Minister. Haphazard conversation during a series of 
such visits cannot but fall into one line ; at least it will 
depend for its variety only on variations in the spiritual 
frame of the parties, or on some change in external cir- 
cumstances. These cannot be depended on, and are not 
likely to give profitable suggestions for varied counsel. 
Systematic instruction will be easier to the Pastor as 
well as more usefully suggestive of valuable thought. 
Precisely as the Pastor cultivates variety for his teach- 
ing in the congregation, so should he do for the isolated 
and lonely soul which depends so largely on the stimu- 
lus of his visits, for its religious health and animation. 

These visits should be regular; generally once each 
week, sometimes once a fortnight. In very prolonged 
disease, and in the case of a large Parish, they may be 
still further delayed: but regularity in the day, and 
even as far as possible in the hour, is an important ele- 
ment in their value, and greatly increases a patient's 
appreciation of them. 

Visiting in cases of accident, or sudden attack of dis- 

* Such as cases of consumption, rheumatism, ossification, dis- 
ease of heart, etc. I visited several such patients regularly for 
years. One in consumption for four years ; a case of gradual 
ossification for nearly ten years ; a case of disease of the heart 
for twelve years. 



426 PASTORAL VISITING. 

ease and imminent danger. — A physician will sometimes 
deny access to the Pastor as to other friends in these 
cases. A 'Pastor's course then becomes verv delicate. 
He has responsibilities towards the patient, not less than 
those of the physician. In a degree he must accept the 
responsibility and act accordingly. 

First let the Minister inquire as to the exact nature 
of the case; especially whether the patient is nervous, 
excitable, or is calm; whether he desires a clergy- 
man's visit; whether he needs it. Reflect then upon 
the relations borne to the patient; on your habits of 
familiarity or otherwise; on the probable effect of a 
visit. 

Next, if deciding that a visit should be made at that 
time, let him state the case to the physician and to the 
family. The physician has a responsibility, and under 
the circumstances has a prior right of decision. If he 
is seconded by the family a Minister has no right to in- 
terfere. The matter must then be left in the hands of 
God. If thus foiled, the Minister should yield with a 
good grace, but be as constantly as possible on hand; 
not obtrusively, but as a really anxious and sympathetic 
friend, so that at any change of mirkl in either party 
or change of condition in the patient, he may be easily 
called in. 

As a general rule a wise physician will desire the 
assistance of a wise Pastor. Much will depend on the 
character for discretion which a Pastor has gained. 
Generally it is acknowledged that he can do more than 
any one else to calm an excited, or rouse a desponding 
patient. A judicious prayer is often the best medicine. 
It will be observed that I consider prayer to be not 



SUDDEN DANGER. 427 

merely a petition to a Sovereign, but sacred communion 
between a child of God and the heavenly Father. 
Such utterances of the heart, if they be judicious as 
well as earnest, form a wholesome medicine to the sick. 
In many cases it is impossible to converse with a per- 
son suddenly brought in view of death; but prayer is 
always possible. Even when a patient cannot speak, 
and appears insensible, he may be conscious and hear 
much or all, and may be able to follow prayer. And 
cases are recorded where prayers have strengthened and 
tended towards the recovery of persons supposed to be 
beyond the reach of human aid. I remember having 
once been called to visit an aged man who had fallen 
into syncope and was thought to be past consciousness, 
and actually dying. I prayed with him as if he could 
unite in my thoughts, although he seemed to be unable 
both to hear and to think. After two days he exhibited 
consciousness again: and, when sufficiently recovered, 
he told me that he had heard every word, had united 
in the prayer, and was refreshed and comforted by it. 

But even if prayer be of no value to the sick person, 
it can hardly fail to contribute to the composure and 
equanimity of the family. Nor, is a child of God ever 
to despair of the efficacy of prayer. God moves in a 
mysterious way in replying to the supplications of His 
people. Frequently He answers directly, to encourage 
our faith. He does not always reply directly; there- 
fore we may not presume, nor substitute confidence in 
prayer for reliance upon God. I remember an illus- 
tration. A dear child — the first born of young Chris- 
tian parents — was ill of whooping cough. The Physi- 
cian despaired of its life. I was sent for in haste. On 



428 PASTORAL VISITING. 

arriving I found the parents bending over the dying 
child. First, consulting the physician, who was also a 
Christian, he said there was no hope; the child was in 
articulo mortis. We both kneeled beside the parents, 
and commended our petitions for the child's life to God. 
Whilst we were praying, the child coughed. We caught 
the sign, and rose from our knees. The physician in- 
stantly administered restoratives. The child revived. 
Our prayer was answered. And we kneeled again, a 
happy circle, to give thanks to God. Whatever may 
have been the second causes, none of that circle ever 
failed to consider that the life of the child was given in 
answer to prayer. 

Considering the possibility of consciousness in many 
cases when patients are apparently unconscious, conver- 
sation in a sick room should be very guarded. 

Visiting at death. — At the death-bed, a Pastor's duty 
becomes most painful, and yet his visit may be most 
desirable and desired. He should never intrude at 
such a moment : but he should never be absent if his 
presence is asked for and is possible. My impression 
is that a dying person should be as much as possible 
alone with most intimate friends. The excitement of 
a crowd must be very unfavorable to calmness at such 
an hour. The emotions of less interested friends are 
generally more noisy than others, because occasioned 
not by affection but by sympathy ; and therefore it is 
advisable that the chamber of the dying should be 
free from these. More than that; the air should be 
pure. A crowd destroys the oxygen, and adds to the 
difficulty of breathing. Besides, the mind should be 
abstracted from earthly scenes and the distractions in- 



PRACTICAL NOTES. 429 

cident to the presence of a number of persons. Short 
sentences should be used; simple words of exhortation; 
especially the promises should be repeated, strengthen- 
ing words of God, hopeful views of heaven, thoughts 
of the preciousness of Christ. Let prayer be short. 
Attend to every request of a dying person however 
trifling — there should be no demur. Let the Minister 
do precisely what is wished. At the moment of de- 
parture, the commendatory prayer from the Prayer 
Book should be used. 

Practical Notes. 

Every Minister should possess and use a copy of 
Miss Nightingale's book on nursing the sick. He 
should know how to add to the comforts of the sick, 
by airing the room ; smoothing the pillows ; raising or 
turning the body; preparing the couch; regulating the 
light and draughts of air, etc. He should often bring 
flowers, fruits, made dishes of simple delicacies; or 
books, wholesome news, printed pictures, cards, what- 
ever will cheer, enliven, and add to the small pleasures 
of a chamber of sickness. 

A physician's responsibility in advising the sick is 
very great. A Minister should never interfere with 
it. He ought in every way to uphold and enforce 
medical directions. Let him ask occasionally whether 
prescriptions have been attended to. Let him see that 
nurses do their duty. A Pastor's influence Jby way of 
general advice in most cases of illness or invalidism 
is controlling. But he should never interfere unless 
he is ready to take the whole responsibility which 
might follow any change of treatment. 



430 PASTORAL VISITING. 

A Pastor should know something also of what is 
necessary to prepare a dead body for burial, so that he 
may be able to advise or even to act when necessary. 
Especially in country parishes the whole responsibility 
of arranging for burial is often imposed on him. 

Visiting the Afflicted. 

Here a Pastor will spend his strength. When God 
has softened the soil by fatherly chastenings then the 
Pastor will seize the opportunity to sow good seed of 
Divine truth. After an affliction of any kind, either 
relative or pecuniary, an immediate visit is expected, is 
desirable, and is of special value. 

Topics for suggestions at such a time are given in 
the books; or will readily occur to the Minister's 
mind. I prefer to give hints which are not to be 
found in print. 

It is of moment to see the person who is chiefly 
afflicted alone, if possible. No one should be present 
with you two to distract the currents of cordial sym- 
pathy. Even if a crowd be pressing around, a man 
of tact can manage to get a private ear. Words of 
consolation, sympathy, friendship, and strength come 
with a thousand-fold more force from a Pastor when he 
speaks to a single heart: and when that heart feels the 
right to appropriate to itself the gracious words. It 
realizes that the Pastor appreciates the loneliness which 
has been suddenly allotted to it by a Sovereign Provi- 
dence. And there is a comfort in the thought that this 
loneliness is sympathized in by one who comes with 
messages of grace from God. 

Generally, friends will be gathered. Read a portion 



OF THE AFFLICTED 431 

of the Scriptures, make a few remarks, then pray. In 
prayer be sufficiently specific. Individualize. It is 
expected at such a moment ; our Prayer Book wisely 
sets us an example, and shows us how to do it by its 
special prayers for individuals in distress. 

After the first burst of grief which will follow your 
expressions of sympathy, endeavor to draw out the 
mind of the afflicted person into a narrative of the 
grief. In most cases it will prove to be the greatest 
possible relief. A Pastor is thus thrown into the back- 
ground, and seems to be accomplishing nothing in his 
office as Consoler. But never was there a greater mis- 
take. He is doing his work most effectually when he 
has opened the flood-gate of tears and complaints, even 
if there be a storm of sorrow, and if his own tears 
flow too. When he has proved his sympathy, his 
words of counsel will return into their bosoms with 
refreshment and abundant solaces. 

An opportunity must be seized to address a word 
of counsel to those members of the family who are 
generally the least impressible, or are least under a 
Pastor's influence. It is better, if possible, to take 
such individuals aside. A word fitly spoken at such 
an hour never loses its, impression. Now too is the 
time to leave wholesome counsels on children's minds. 

Visits should be continued at intervals until it is 
evident that thought is resuming its accustomed chan- 
nels: and should then cease, not abruptly as if the Min- 
ister had been only waiting for an opportunity to be re 
lieved, but by degrees, proportioned to the evidence that 
his visits are no longer necessary or expedient. 



432 PASTORAL VISITING. 

Visiting those who are in trouble. 

Many anxieties oppress members of a parish besides 
those which may be classed among spiritual difficulties ; 
such as affairs of estate, neighborly quarrels, perplexi- 
ties in domestic matters. Many of these come before a 
Pastor ; indeed, are laid upon his mind and heart, as 
upon the nearest of friends. A Pastor must be ready 
to enter into them all; to sympathize with them all; 
and to give advice in all. He must needs be a man of 
broad experience, quick emotions and grave discretion. 
He will be applied to by rich and poor alike, by influ- 
ential persons in the parish, and by those who have 
little influence. Some practical hints are suggested. 

Always be ready to listen. I know nothing more 
difficult; and yet nothing more important. Listen pa- 
tiently. I remember on one occasion to have listened for 
four mortal hours without saying a word. I became 
the patient. But my client was relieved. It may be a 
hard task sometimes; yet on it will depend the impres- 
sion of your sympathy, and the degree of confidence 
reposed in you. On it too will depend your competence 
to give advice. Ask questions enough to enable you to 
get at the whole case. Take sufficient time to consider 
before making a judgment and before attempting to 
praise. As you are a man and not a woman, you can- 
not depend upon instinctive or intuitive judgments, but 
must rely on your second sober thoughts. If it is an 
important case, decline to express any opinion until 
you shall have taken it home, to think and pray over 
it. Young men sometimes desire credit for rapid 
decisions. It is far better to have the satisfaction of 



OF THOSE IN TROUBLE. 433 

giving wise counsel according to divine will, than quick 
judgments by merely human wit. After giving an 
opinion thus carefully arrived at do not be easily 
moved from it. Be ready to reconsider if new light 
or new facts fairly reopen the case, otherwise it is the 
part of wisdom to maintain the ground which you have 
deliberately taken. 

A pastor should encourage confidence in himself by 
his ready sympathy with his people, by careful judg- 
ments, and especially by never opening his lips to any 
human being on what is confided to him as a secret. If 
he must tell it, let him tell it to the stars: but even 
then take care lest an echo hear it. Never let him 
speak of any subject concerning which he is consulted, 
unless he hears of it from some quarter other than his 
client. And not even then unless it is necessary to 
speak for his client's sake or the sake of truth and 
justice. Absolute reticency should be the Pastor's 
rule in matters large and small alike. If a Minister 
begins to talk to others — shall I say, to gossip — about 
little matters, all distinction will be soon forgotten 
between those which are important and non-important. 
But let one's reputation be established for entire reti- 
cency of affairs confided to him, and no person in 
the parish will hesitate to trust him at all times when 
necessary. 



T 37 



PASTORAL VISITING. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

TREATMENT OF CASES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. 

The most difficult duty of a Pastor, is to treat dif- 
fering cases of religious experience with discriminating 
wisdom. Classes may be reached by public pulpit 
addresses. Nor is it difficult to speak about them to a 
congregation in general terms. It is easy to suit our 
advice to men when addressed in mass. But it be- 
comes seriously difficult, it tries one's bravery and 
skill, when we must meet individual perplexities face 
to face in private conversation ; when we must unravel 
them whilst watching the signs of anxiety in those who 
are opening to us their hearts. Yet this very contact 
of mind with mind, and this very freedom of private 
intercourse, present the happiest opportunities for ex- 
plaining doubts, and enforcing necessary truth with the 
greatest hopefulness of conviction. 

A Minister should diligently prepare for this duty. — 
If for preaching, how much more for this more difficult 
task ! Bridges recommends " Owens' and Flavel's 
Treatises" and " Baxter's Christian Directory.'* I 
think that others which he mentions are better suited 
to our habits of thought ; such as " Gurnal's Christian 
434 



PREPARATORY STUDY. 435 

Armour," and especially "Leighton's Works." But 
all these are somewhat antiquated. For real practical 
guidance in our practical generation, "James 5 Guide 
books" will be found more valuable; and also " Philip's 
guides." Newton's " Cardiphonia" gives insight into 
the experience of a Christian heart, and will furnish 
to some minds useful helps. " Pike's and Haywood's 
guide" I have examined, but cannot unite with Bridges 
in thinking that it will be of much avail to us. Me- 
moirs of men of large religious experience become of 
great value to us in preparing for this duty. The 
Evangelical Knowledge Society has published an ad- 
mirable series of such Biographies. The life of Bishop 
Patteson, and such stories of life as the unaffectedly 
simple memoir of Catherine Tait, furnish a store of 
instruction as to phases of Christian experience, and 
the modes of dealing with them. 

A Minister will naturally make most use of his own 
experience and must chiefly depend on it. One can 
best guide others by a careful study and review of the 
way by which God has led him : contrasts will be as 
useful in suggestion as are strictly parallel cases. In 
preparing for the actual work a Pastor will place great 
dependence on prayer. "God has promised His Holy 
Spirit especially, as it seems to me, for such emergencies 
as arise in this delicate and difficult path. Not even 
the wisest Pastor can be instantly prepared to meet 
every doubt or perplexity which may be suggested. 
But a prayerful preparation of heart, being a spirit 
of humble reliance on God, both rouses the powers of 
a true Christian's soul, and secures, according to God's 
most true promise, the help of his omniscient guidance. 



436 PASTORAL VISITING. 

Experience dictates that a Minister should never 
enter on an interview with a parishioner as to spiritual 
matters, without entreating a special blessing of God. 
When the interview occurs in one's own study, or in a 
private room, it should be a habit to close it by prayer. 
It will enforce what the Minister has said, and give 
solemnity and seriousness both to the tone of conversa- 
tion and the effect of the intercourse. 

A Pastor's skill should first be used in drawing out 
the whole of his parishioner's mind. Do not be iu 
haste to give advice. Get the entire peculiarities of the 
case fairly before you ; take time to reflect on them; lay 
the case before God ; and only after these preliminaries 
venture to give counsel. 

A habit of discrimination is of first importance. It 
is quite possible to confound a self-righteous self-de- 
ceiver with a man strong in faith ; for there are no few 
parallelisms in the expressions they will use. A man 
who thinks that he does not need repentance, may em- 
ploy language much like that of one who really deems 
himself unworthy of divine grace. " Not good enough 
to be a Christian," he will say. A real child of God, 
full of holy desires and of the lov6 of God, may seem to 
be on the very borders of despair; and his language may 
be that of a soul expecting to be lost. It is rare ; but 
not impossible. For example ; the following case oc- 
curred in my experience. I should have termed it ex- 
traordinary, had not an almost precisely similar case 
been reported in a religious paper which I was reading 
on the previous day. The method of treatment fol- 
lowed in that case was of great service in guiding me. 

A Christian was near death : dying apparently with- 



DISCRIMINA TIONS. 437 

out hope. The darkest of shadows had settled over 
her mind ; and visions of God's displeasure were rilling 
every prospect of the future. She had been a devoted 
child of God for more than twelve years. She had 
never formerly doubted her right to be called " accepted 
in the beloved" ; although her religious expressions had 
never been demonstrative, nor was she a particularly 
cheerful Christian. But no one who had known her 
ever hesitated to place her name on the bright roll of 
the Communion of Saints. She was not in my charge : 
was not indeed in our Church. But in his perplexity, 
her husband sent for me : and I learned the particulars 
whilst preparing to make the visit. I found her en- 
tirely self-possessed, ready to converse, but filled with 
apprehensions of the judgments of God against sin, and 
fully anticipating eternal perdition. I turned the con- 
versation immediately towards her actual religious ex- 
perience ; her thoughts concerning God and Christ ; her 
devout adoration of the Saviour; her affectionate de- 
votion to Him ; her gratitude for the Saviour's work of 
grace to her ; her actual holiness of sentiment, desire, 
and practice ; her abhorrence (for it was nothing less) 
of sin and of all that was at enmity with God. Gradu- 
ally it dawned upon her mind, that such principles and 
feelings were utterly and irreconcilably inconsistent with 
the condition of one who was to live forever apart from 
God. Soon it dawned on her soul that the very agony 
of her agonizing thoughts was the fear that she w r ould 
be separated from God and Christ and His Saints in 
Paradise. It was easy enough then to convince her that 
such a state of mind was not that of the lost. Indeed 
she returned answer to herself. She was not lost but 

37* 



438 PASTORAL VISITING. 

found. The " hell" which she had been dreading was 
not suited to her condition. She dreaded it, because 
already longing for and fitted for the home of God's 
children, and that eternal presence of Jehovah which is 
" Heaven." She was instantly at peace, and rejoicing : 
and so she died. Yet, if one had dealt only with first 
impressions, derived only from her expressions of fear 
and over-sensitiveness, the case might have ended in 
serious spiritual disaster. 

Whilst writing these lines a letter is laid on my desk 
revealing a precisely similar case. The expressions are 
those of a man who deems himself, on the borders of 
everlasting banishment from God : yet, happily, before 
replying to him I have learned from his Pastor that his 
condition is spiritual morbidness, and that there is no 
reason to doubt his real godliness. 

Such cases illustrate the point in hand, and show the 
necessity for a Pastor to accustom himself to careful 
discriminations of character and spiritual condition. 
Not having discernment of spirits we must take and 
use our next best qualification, which is natural judg- 
ment assisted by religious experience. It will aid us, 
to have become accustomed to divide our people into 
classes, according to usual religious conditions ; and to 
discriminate their differences. Bridges has done it well. 
We may advantageously study his description of cases 
and his treatment of each. 

Being able to refer to so wise a guide, it will be use- 
less to repeat or add to his instructions. I shall gener- 
ally only mention books or tracts which I have found 
useful in particular cases. They are easily accessible. 
Some of them should be constantly on hand ; especially 



DISCRIMINA TIOXS. 43 9 

in the earlier years of Pastoral life ; such as are named 
in the Appendix. Such books are necessarily written 
from the stand-point, theological or experimental, of 
the particular writer. They are not likely to express 
more than one phase of religious experience. This 
may be regretted. Other Pastors using this treatise 
will easily substitute for those which I may name, 
the guide books with which they are more familiar, or 
towards which their religious preferences gravitate. 

In studying how to treat cases of religious expe- 
rience, a discriminating Pastor observes a regular pro- 
gression in the history of soul-life. In a former part 
of this work I have alluded to two classes, who are to 
be addressed in sermons. These, the unconverted and 
the converted, are distinct; and are to be kept separate 
in our study of character. Yet they approach one 
another. At certain stages the conditions of mind lie 
very near to each other. Sometimes they pass into 
each other without marked observation. These facts 
are to be noted. 

The steps of progress are as follows. Among uncon- 
verted persons we meet, first, the ignorant ; or second, 
the careless; or third, the self-righteous; or fourth, 
the intelligent unbeliever or sceptic, that is, a doubter 
who is intelligent and of an ingenuous habit of mind. 
Each of these it may be hoped will pass into the fifth 
class, the awakened. The next stage, the sixth, is 
Conviction. At this point, by an almost imperceptible 
progression, the person so convicted of sin becomes 
Converted. 

Then he passes into the other class. He becomes 
what is commonly termed a Christian : that religious 



440 PASTORAL VISITING. 

state which is prefigured by Baptism, and intended to 
be the result of that Holy Covenant with God. He 
is a Christian. 

But all Christians are not to be treated alike by the 
Pastor. A Christian is, seventh, outsetting: or imme- 
diately afterwards, eighth, professing. Next, his con- 
dition is properly described as, ninth, maturing : and, 
tenth, progressing. Then, the Christian who is pro- 
gressing towards the " perfect man in Christ Jesus," 
will be met in various stages of discipline. So that 
the Pastor will prepare to find him, eleventh, und^r 
temptation; or, twelfth, under affliction; or, thirteenth, 
in sickness; or occasionally, fourteenth, saddest of all, 
under mental disorder. 

The Pastor may sometimes meet one of his flock 
who has lost his religious convictions, and who is no 
longer worthy of the holy name of Christian. Such a 
person is termed a Backslider. And it is possible that 
a faithful Pastor may meet a case of mistaken Pro- 
fession. For all these phases of character and habit 
a Pastor should prepare himself to deal wisely, faith- 
fully, gently as a brother, and meekly as the servant 
of Christ. 



PASTORAL VISITING. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

TREATMENT OF CASES. 

The Ignorant form the largest class of those whom 
Christ has sent us to seek after. 

Many have never heard the Gospel preached. Many 
have never heard it in its simplicity or purity. Many 
hearts are blinded to the Gospel by sin. Many have 
heard the Gospel with entire unintelligence. A boy at 
Wilkesbarre in Pennsylvania, sixteen years old, in the 
habit of attending church, told me that he had never 
heard of Jesus, and did not know who I was preaching 
about. He was not an idiot; only his attention had not 
been arrested. This class includes a great deal of what 
is improperly called infidelity; it is merely ignorance. 
This ignorance must be dispelled by the pulpit. As 
soon as men allow you to talk to them personally on the 
subject of religion, especially if they come to you de- 
siring it, the work is begun; and the great difficulty is 
over. Your object then will be to arouse, to quicken 
apprehension of danger and truth, and to explain in 
the simplest way the plan of salvation. Heard says: 

" The ignorance of adults affects us very differently from the 

ignorance of children. The one inspires us with hope, the other 

with despair. We know how to cope with the one, but the other 

almost baffles us. In the rural districts this ignorance crops up 

T* 441 



442 PASTORAL VISITING. 

on all sides. . . . The Pastor must assume nothing, if he does 
not wish to be disappointed. He must sit down in the poor 
man's cottage and begin at the beginning. In the fewest and 
plainest words, he must tell of the creation and fall of man ; of 
the birth, death, and life of Christ ; and see that the facts are 
laid up in the mind as the true foundation on which the doctrines 
of Christianity, as a holy temple to the Lord, may grow. Most 
peasants, however ignorant, can repeat the Creed, and when 
cross-questioned, admit that they repeat it as Koman Catholics 
say their ' Credo' or ' Hail Mary,' as a pious invocation, the 
meaning of which they do not understand. Let them learn, to 
their surprise, that the Creed contains the whole of their re- 
ligion ; in a few words let the Pastor unfold the meaning of that 
which has been as unmeaning as the hedge priest's mumsimus." 
"It is almost incredible to those who dwell in cities what 
ignorance still prevails in our rural districts. £ Wut with the 
hissing, and the fizzing, and the world turning round, I am dead 
beat,' said the Lincolnshire clown, as he turned his face to the 
wall and died. We are apt to term such ignorance invincible, 
and so to excuse our failure to light up and disperse such mists. 
But the cretinism of the Alps, though it is incurable so long as 
the physical causes are unremoved, disappears when the patient 
is taken into sunshine. So the ignorance of our rural population 
is only the measure of our own past indolence. We do not allow 
enough for the stupefying effects of tending cattle and following 
the plough for fourteen hours a day, all the year round. ' How 
can he get wisdom that holdeth the plough, and that glorieth in 
the goad, that driveth oxen and is occupied in their labors, and 
whose talk is of bullocks?' (Ecclesiasticus xxxviii. 25.*) The 
Sunday rest has not righted the balance in their case against six 
days of labor. The seventh day finds the farm laborer as weary 
as his cattle, and with no tastes higher than the beershop and the 
wrestling match. It is disheartening, but if he gird himself to 
this work in a missionary spirit, he will find he does not labor 
in vain. Oberlin at Ban de la Eoche, Gilpin in Yorkshire, were 
sent to minister to such persons ; but they did not despair, and 
like Nehemiah, God strengthened their hands, till they had in a 
great measure dispersed the darkness that lay around them."* 

* Heard, Pastor and Parish, p. 137. 



TREATMENT OF THE IGNORANT 443 

Such an estimate of the difficulty which the Gospel 
meets in approaching the " ignorant/' is not altogether 
appropriate to the United States. Similar cases may 
no doubt be found among the lower grade of hired 
hands of our farming classes. But intelligence and 
education is widely distributed among our farmers. Yet 
we may wisely ponder the dulling effect which is pro- 
duced by the perpetual sameness and routine of farm- 
ing pursuits. Similar results follow the unvarying 
routine of mill life, or manufacturing, or even of small 
trading. 

Ignorance is often due to circumstances ; not to na- 
tural qualities or mental inability. A young woman 
of ordinary intelligence, who had lived in a little ham- 
let of Ohio until she was twenty-two years old, and had 
never walked five miles from her father's log house, 
once came to Gambier, which is not even called a town 
by population. After gazing at the college buildings 
and seeing the people who passed along the " Bishop's 
Walk/' she came to me with a bewildered expression, 
and seemed lost in despair because of the new ideas that 
had begun to enter her mind. " Why/' she said, " I 
did not know that -so many people were ever together 
in one place in the world !" What chance have the 
grand ideas of the revelation of God to enter the mind, 
when they must pass through thickets of such ignorance, 
and contend at every step against such inanition. 

The simplest books or tracts will best meet this case. 
" James' Anxious Inquirer," or " Come to Jesus." 
" Kyle's tracts" are admirably adapted to it. 

The Careless. — This class comprises the largest part 
of every congregation. They listen without heeding. 



444 PASTORAL VISITING. 

Preaching has a pleasant sound. They are often at- 
tracted by pictures of the beauties of a religious life ; 
and especially by eloquent paintings of the delights of 
heaven : but they are not led thereby, or by any appeals, 
to serious reflection or to duty. Unless, however, public 
means of grace awaken them, generally only God's 
Providences can accomplish the end. Yet a word may 
be dropped in conversation which shall prove to be a 
word in season, or a book or tract may be judiciously 
used. 

The point to be aimed at is to convince them of the 
positive danger of indifference. " He that is not with 
me, is against rne." The great mass of business men 
and great mass of busy women are of this class of people, 
who have not leisure either to be orthodox or to be 
unbelievers. "They are not without relations to the 
Church, in the bosom of which they are still retained 
by habit or decency. They meet the Pastor in social in- 
tercourse at the houses of others, or in civil affairs, or 
in solemn circumstances. They have affections, domes- 
tic pleasures and sorrows ; they are men : on the side 
of humanity they may be reached; all their natural 
affections have an affinity for religion. But when we 
have obtained the ear of the indifferent, we must de- 
stroy their security, and make them see that their posi- 
tion is not indifferent."* Intellectual men, scientists, 
and students, and intelligent working-men are often 
found in this class. 

" The great question" meets their case. The tract 
" Living or Dead" is valuable. " Baxter's Call" has 

* Yinet's Pastoral Theology, p. 256. 



TREATMENT OF THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS. 445 

been much blessed in times past. It is a question 
whether the day of its usefulness has not terminated. 
At least, I have never been able to use it with effect. 
But " Awake, thou Sleeper," by Clarke, although by no 
means as strong as " Baxter's Call," seems to meet the 
carelessness of the age more effectually. The memoir 
of Captain Yickars (E. K. S.) has a powerful effect in 
awakening attention to religion by the peculiarity of 
his character and the circumstances which gave him 
prominence in the Crimean War. 

The Self-Righteous are of two classes ; both of them 
very difficult to reach. No entrenchment is so impreg- 
nable as that of the pride of the human heart. The 
most difficult case of the two is presented by one who 
trusts to his natural goodness. It is well for society 
that there are very many men whose principles and 
conduct are just, upright, honorable, and esteemed, 
although they make no profession of Christianity. 
How much such men owe to their knowledge of Chris- 
tianity, and their general recognition of duty to God and 
Christ, is an interesting question ; but we may not dis- 
cuss it here. It may however form part of those con- 
siderations which d" Pastor will be wise in presenting 
when endeavoring to induce such persons to realize 
their religious position. 

It may not be easy to point out particulars in the 
conduct of such persons which are to be amended. 
Nor is it worth while to make the attempt. Until the 
foundation of this form of self-righteousness can be 
sapped, no attack upon the fortress which is built upon 
it can be successful : for that fortress is strong in its 
proportions and its beauty. There is little use to pro- 

38 



446 PASTORAL VISITING. 

claim the excellence of a Saviour. The man does not 
feel the need of a Saviour; that is, of an absolute 
Saviour. Perhaps he would be willing to recognize 
the value of a helpful spiritual friend, or he might think 
it safe to have a stand-by in case of danger, and he 
might even be glad to accept the Christ of the Gospel 
as an exemplar. But a Saviour — no ! It is of no 
use to tell him that he is not a good man ; for besides 
that the statement would not be accurate in the usual 
sense of the term, he would probably be inclined to 
use a very keen argumentum ad hominem, and favor- 
ably compare natural goodness with the ordinary tone 
(alas !) of Church life. 

Nor will it help the matter at all in such a case to 
say, that, inasmuch as he that is guilty of violating one 
law of God is guilty of all, he must be considered in 
God's sight as on a par with a thief or a murderer. 
He might quietly ask whether you mean by a thief a 
communicant who in a position of trust violates it, and 
so robs the orphan and the widow of their savings ; or 
by a murderer, a communicant who puts the cup to 
his neighbor's lips, or supports the Church by liquor 
selling. Nor is it true that such a man in God's sight 
is an equal sinner with those gross violators of justice 
and truth. He is equally a sinner, but not an equal 
sinner. The distinction is real, but too nice for the 
personal conversation in which you are now engaged. 

The only method which promises success is to paint 
in true colors the infinite purity and holiness of God, 
and of His law ; to bring this good man into the pres- 
ence of the perfect Christ, and let his own conscience 
(not your words) make the comparison ; to probe the 



TREATMENT OF THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS. 447 

motives of his goodness ; to show how largely selfish- 
ness and human approbation mingle with his higher 
aspirations. At this point you can begin to make com- 
parison between virtues and graces, showing how low 
is the position of natural goodness in the scale with 
spiritual holiness. Then you have reached the point 
where you may affirm and press the truth that there 
is no righteousness in the moral universe, except that 
which springs from love, and no human righteous per- 
son except that one in whose soul love to God, and 
Christ, and man, is the supreme and universally active 
motive. Of all books which I have read on this sub- 
ject the most considerate and faithful, and altogether 
the most useful, is " Mercien's natural goodness." 

The othsr form of " self-righteousness exhibits itself 
by the expression, God will not judge me harshly, 1 
try to do my best. A merciful Christ will make up for 
my deficiencies." Such a state of mind is frequent. 
Here you will present the absoluteness of God's law ; 
and its inflexibility. The standard is obedience. For 
disobedience a penalty. For the penitent, divine for- 
giveness through the redemption. Xo other way al- 
luded to in the Gospel. Christ came on no such 
ignoble errand as to make up the balance for each 
human deficiency against the legal weights of absolute 
perfection. Then you will show how subtly sin has 
mingled with obediences, corrupting each, not leaving 
the man in deficiency, but leaving him in sin. The 
intention of obedience itself becomes corrupted and 
defiled ; and -every act becomes not a deficient obedi- 
ence, but a positive disobsdience. 

Read Kyle's " Wheat and Chaff." 



448 PASTORAL VISITING. 

The Unbeliever; an intelligent and conscientious 
doubter. Perhaps we might more properly charac- 
terize this class as non-believers. Sceptics in the broad 
sense, Agnostics as they are now called, spiritual know- 
nothings, and Infidels, are not likely to cross your path; 
morels the pity. But you will frequently be brought 
in contact with men who are doubtful as to the obliga- 
tions of Christianity, or doubtful as to the truth and 
divine inspirations of Holy Scripture. Not like fright- 
ened school boys going by a grave yard and whistling 
to keep their courage up ; but quiet, thoughtful men as 
desirous to know the truth of spiritual things as you 
can be to reveal it. These cases promise you the most 
interesting and valuable hours. For generally they are 
men who have read much ; and often they have thought 
more. Possibly you may find that they have explored 
depths which you have not approached. Possibly you 
may discover that their suggestion of difficulties opens 
a wider field of thought than you have ever undertaken. 
You are not to deal with such men as if their doubts 
were not honest or were destitute of reason. It will 
be well enough to bear in mind that you may not find 
it easy to meet their difficulties : and that if their souls 
should be lost, it may be not because they were in- 
capable of understanding your presentation of truths, 
but because you were not capable of comprehending 
the doubts which troubled their anxious spirits. 

In the present age doubts as to the inspiration, au- 
thority, and teaching of Scripture are foremost in our 
country. In England, especially among graduates of 
the two great universities, and among those circles of 
our countrymen who are inclined to classical studies, 



TREATMENT OF THE UNBELIEVER. 449 

critical doubts stand largely in the way of faith in the 
Scriptures. In both cases it is fair to think, although it 
may be neither prudent nor polite to say, that doubts 
arise chiefly from indifferent knowledge. For it is un- 
doubtedly true that the most complete scientists, and 
the most finished critical students, in every age have 
been the most devout believers. You will, therefore, 
be on your guard not to accept from these inquirers 
every statement as correct, even though it be apparently 
scientific, or apparently taken fresh from the field of 
criticism. When, however, a fact is presented which 
is a fact, and you cannot meet it with an overbearing 
fact, or a sufficient argument, let the difficulty be ac- 
knowledged. Go again to your books, and your knees; 
and prepare yourself afresh for a succeeding interview. 
It should be borne in mind that the arguments from 
scientific facts are undergoing a constant change : for 
as other facts are discovered the relations of the former 
become altered and defined. A partial investigation 
may result in an inference hostile to revelation ; but a 
thorough investigation has always attested the truth of 
Scripture. Never be hasty then in admitting partial 
truths, or drawling inferences from facts not completely 
developed. But whenever true science has reached a 
conclusion which cannot be controverted, seize it as an 
argument for the truths of God ; for such a scientific 
conclusion invariably turns against scepticism. You 
should, therefore, be busily engaged in studying the 
results of scientific studies. You may not have the 
time, nor the means, to follow the whole progress of 
those examinations : but waiting patiently until sci- 
entists have reached results, use them with skill and 

38* 



450 PASTORAL VISITING. 

boldness to defeat adverse inferences which they may 
have too hastily drawn. 

As a rule, you need not meet this class of sceptics on 
their ground. Their lines of study and yours do not 
coincide. Show your skill in transferring the argument 
from a scientific or critical field, of which they may be 
the masters, to the field of religious and spiritual ex- 
perience, in which you w 7 ill probably be their equal. 
Indeed, I have always found that the most unanswerable 
argument for the existence of a Personal loving God 
is our own experience of the need of such a Being, and 
the most powerful argument for the authority of Rev- 
elation is its adaptation to meet all our spiritual neces- 
sities. If criticism could destroy this Bible to-day, or 
science could blot out every other evidence of God's 
existence to-morrow — nay, before the shadows of this 
evening could have time to fall — the critic's soul would 
call for some other word from heaven, and the scientist 
would be uneasy and restless in a Universe which had 
no God. The very thought which enables you to reach 
this class of non-believers is the unsatisfactoriness of 
living without religion; without the religion of the 
Bible. Your vantage, then, is in pressing the reductio 
ad absurdum. The consequences of want of belief 
are so disastrous, that it is evident there must be some 
fatal breach in the chain of their argument. Your 
business is only to help them to find it ; and their in- 
terest is equal if not greater than yours in making the 
search successful. Unfortunately w r e have few modern 
books which will help us to meet modern objections. 

" The credentials of Christianity" put forth lately by 
the Christian Evidence Society of England, is probably 



TREATMENT OF THE UNBELIEVER. 45 1 

the most useful modern collection of treatises for this 
purpose. The Bishop of Carlisle's homely and practi- 
cal argument for the Inspiration of our Scriptures, con- 
trasted with all other so-called sacred books, which 
commences the volume, appears to me as nearly unas- 
sailable as any argument can be ; and the subsequent 
masterly statement by the Bishop of Gloucester and 
Bristol, as to the adequacy of the Christian answer to 
all deeper questions, is incontrovertible. But almost all 
our books fail at some point, to meet the manifoldness 
of the difficulty which this sprightly age creates. As 
knowledge runs to and fro and discovers facts, every 
new fact causes a hubbub in the realms of truth, until 
it has fairly found its relations to old facts and settled 
down to its place. It would be impossible to make books 
fast enough to meet each new phase of doubt. It will be 
well then to continue to study the arguments of former 
days. They have not lost their vigor or their force. 
Can it be necessary to name " Butler's Analogy of 
Natural and Revealed Religion" ? In a similar sense, 
I quote the advice of former teachers on the point which 
we are discussing. They were not alluding to " Doubters" 
of the present dayT But their counsels are not in vain ; 
for all doubt comes from one source, and in the long 
result tends to one end, and needs one remedy. 
Vinet says : 

"Infidelity piques itself on an aggressive character; that is 
to say, on believing something in opposition to the beliefs which 
religion proposes. Each has his system, which is often nothing 
more than a mass of gratuitous and incoherent assertions ; a 
collection of pithy phrases, stolen, without understanding them, 
from conversations and books. There is no point of doctrine so 
abstract or subtle that it does not produce itself under some 



452 PASTORAL VISITING. 

trivial and puerile form in the language of these bold spirits of 
low degree. Contempt is never seasonable, never useful : but 
we must not give these ambitious proverbs of ignorant infidelity 
honor which they do not deserve, and engage in discussions 
which, though they may have a limit and a result with persons 
of a cultivated mind, have often neither result nor limit with 
narrow and ignorant minds." 

"We have more to do with rationalism, which accepts the 
sacred documents, than with infidelity, which discards them. 
"We refer not only to learned rationalism, with which a simple 
pastor cannot always contend as a formal polemic, but to super- 
ficial and second-hand rationalism, which seeks to blunt the edge 
of that evangelical truth by which it is wounded. We venture 
little in assuming that this rationalism has for its ordinary source 
a repugnance of heart, and that it is in the rationalist's con- 
science that the weapons, in contending with him, are to be 
sought. Without, therefore, omitting arguments of another 
kind furnished by science, and without seeming to shrink from 
the combat, we must make great use of internal evidence, and 
call conscience to bear witness. The more we use the Scripture 
in explaining the Scripture, the more shall we be struck with 
the excellence of this method. The sense of each verse should 
be presented as penetrated with the sense and the savor of all 
the principal passages that relate to the same subject."* 

Heard on the same subjects says : 

" The wise physician of souls will deal differently with different 
cases. He will be patient with the stupid sceptic and bold with 
the profane ; he will use arguments to meet argument ; and as 
diamond cuts diamond, so he will employ reason to refute the 
sophisms of reason. But in all such cases he will act upon the 
wise rule of John Newton, who said that he went his rounds as 
the physician in Bedlam, neither disturbed by the impertinence, 
nor distracted by the chatter of the inmates." 

" There is a difference, too, between the infidelity of our day 
and that of the generation preceding the present. Then there 
was a spirit of disbelief abroad in the world, now it is rather a 

* Vinet, Pastoral Theology, p. 267. 



TREATMENT OF THE UNBELIEVER. 453 

spirit of unbelief. The century which began with Locke and 
ended with Paley has been called the seculum rationalisticum. 
It might be called with equal truth the seculum apologeticum. 
Christianity took its stand upon the defensive, it shut itself into 
its strongholds, and allowed the enemy to scour the open country, 
to levy contributions on the unarmed villages, until at last, in 
the language of the song of Deborah, the highways were unoc 
cupied, and the travellers walked through byways. The spirit 
of the Church militant must have sunk indeed very low before 
Bishop Butler could have penned that melancholy sentence 
written in 1736 : l It has come, I know not how, to be taken 
for granted by many persons, that Christianity is not so much 
as a subject of inquiry, but that it is now at length discovered 
to be fictitious. And accordingly they treat it as if in the 
present age this were an agreed point among all people of dis- 
cernment, and nothing remained but to set it up as a principal 
subject of mirth and ridicule, as it were, by way of reprisals for 
its having so long interrupted the pleasures of the world.' "* 

In the line of thought now suggested, you will find 
" Wilberforee's practical view of Christianity" of great 
use in meeting men of able minds and accustomed to 
think. It was written by the great philanthropist after 
much experience in conversing on religious topics with 
his fellow members in Parliament: and was very valu- 
able in its age. It has not lost its value, as I know by 
experience in employing it. For a similar class, "The 
Great Question" may be serviceable. It was written 
by the Rev. Dr. Boardman, of Philadelphia, to meet 
just these states of mind. It is sometimes wise to 
attempt to arouse thought on religious topics: and 
with this idea you may find the following books of 
use, "Argyle's reign of Law." " Naville, Heavenly 
Father." "McCosh on the Divine Government"; one 

* Heard, Pastor and Parish, p. 148. 



454 PASTORAL VISITING. 

of the grandest books of the age. " Chalmers' Astro- 
nomical Lectures." "The Theology of Invention." 
"Keith on Prophecy." For Unitarians, "The Christ 
of History" : and three sermons by the late Dr. Bedell 
"on the Trinity" (E. K. S. Tract). " Rock of Ages," 
with Huntington's Introduction. For Deists "Leslie 
on Deism" is not likely soon to be superseded. On 
the whole argument, you will not find a more com- 
pactly logical or attractively popular treatise than 
" Mcllvaine's Evidences." The Christian Evidence 
Society has provided a Course of Lectures which reply 
to most of the " Popular Objections to Revealed Truth" : 
among them is a forcible presentation of the subject 
of " Miracles as the Credentials of Revelation," by Dr. 
Gladstone. 

General Counsels. 

u Maintain always, and with all persons, a frank and direct 
bearing." 

11 Rely readily, and as far as possible, on the good faith of 
others." 

"Regard ideas more than words, and sentiments more than 
ideas. Sentiment, or affection, is the true moral reality. How 
many heresies of thought correct themselves in the heart. And, 
in return, how much orthodoxy is in the heart heresy. Men re- 
fuse us the word; they concede to us the thing: or, again, they 
refuse us the thing in granting us the word." 

11 "When you recognize in an adversary a cavilling spirit, and 
perceive that you have to do with a fabricator of difficulties, de- 
cline a contest in which there is no seriousness, and ' answer not 
a fool according to his folly.' — Prov. xxvi. 4." 

" Beware of considering yourself as personally offended by op- 
position, and by what is said, however unjustly, against the truths 
which you preach." 

"Appear not to regard as so much blasphemy all rash or 
inconsiderate assertions, whether relating to doctrine or morals." 

11 Persevere without harassing." 



TREATMENT OF THE AWAKENED. 455 

" Expect not that arguments will have an identical and abso- 
lute influence on all minds. We do not always know why an 
argument which has no power on one should prove efficacious 
on another ; or why an individual who at one time received no 
impression from the word, should at another time be deeply 
impressed with it. This is God's secret ; and, after all our atten- 
tions, all our mecisures, the final result is left in His hands. All 
our hope is from Him ; to Him let all be ascribed. Attend more 
to the dispositions with which you acquit yourselves of your 
work, than the skill with which you used your talents." 

" The first of lights, of powers, of preservatives, of defences, 
is charity. The spirit of the government of souls and of the 
whole pastoral office lies in the sentiment which these words of 
the Master so profoundly express : ' Ye will not come to me that 
ye might have life.' " 

11 Add to your instructions the weight of your example, well 
knowing that the true mode of communicating moral truth is 
contagion; that it is only from life that life can proceed; and. 
that, in fact, the decisive arguments for or against Christianity 
are Christians."* 

The Awakened. 

When your friend has reached this condition of re- 
ligious experience, the case becomes plainer. You will 
need only a hint from me. 

Take care lest -m the excitement of seeing him so 
near the Kingdom of Heaven, you be tempted to sup- 
pose that the work is done. To neglect the case at this 
point may be as fatal, as it would be for a physician to 
cease his applications at the first favorable turn of a 
disease. To heal the wound slightly may cover up the 
malady, and thrust the poison deeper into the system. 
Your object now will be to deepen not to lessen an in- 
terest in religious things. You are by all right means 
to quicken a sense of spiritual danger. 

* Yinet, p. 272. 



456 PASTORAL VISITING. 

The means are : primarily, a revelation and impres- 
sion of the power of God's law as a discerner of heart 
and life. Next, instruction that the Law is the Judge 
both of heart and life : an inflexible Judge, because it 
determines strictly by precepts written. When you 
preach the Gospel to a person who is awakened, you are 
to display Christ and the Cross, not in the aspect of 
grace, but as they show so distinctly the evil nature, 
the heinousness, and the hateful character of sin ; sin 
that could demand such a sacrifice. Still it must not 
ever be out of sight, that the Gospel is an immediate 
and complete remedy. It is well to press, as a proof 
of real guiltiness in heart, the fact that this person has 
been willing so long to neglect- the Saviour's offer of 
mercy, and his pure and holy service. A goad may be 
necessary now; a spur, and not a rein. There is a 
temptation to rest in partial impressions or partial 
amendments, bringing nothing to perfection. Press the 
point that in coming to Christ spiritually, or coming to 
Christ's Church visibly, there is no safe halting place 
except at the Saviour's feet in conscious faith, or in the 
Saviour's fellowship by visible membership. He who 
halts short of this is lost as surely, as though the Judg- 
ment Day had come whilst he was only resting at his 
ease on the way towards the city of refuge. 

Nor must any one wait for the appearance of that 
folly — " a day of power !" The only day of power 
for a reasonable man is that in which he is awakened 
to see his duty, hears the call, and feels that he is a re- 
sponsible being possessing a mind to think and a will 
fcp uct. 

You will find an arousing tract in Kyle's "Call to 



TREATMENT OF THE CONVICTED. 457 

Prayer" : and a wise guide, in the tract, " Counsels for 
the awakened." 

The Convicted. 

This is a stage of spiritual experience, beyond the 
last. It is more than being " awakened." The dis- 
crimination lies between a mere excitement of the emo- 
tions, an arousing of the sensibilities, a quickening of 
desire, and that movement towards determination which 
always results in an act of will. A man may be awake, 
without deciding to rise : but the moment he is convinced 
of the necessity of rising, convicted, for example, of 
being slothfully neglectful of duty, he springs to his 
feet. It is this state of mind lying between the sense 
of necessity for action and the act, that is, the moment 
of conviction and decision, of which we are now think- 
ing It is a conviction of sin, of sinfulness, of being 
actually in the condition before God of one who has 
offended him without apology or excuse. Sin now 
appears hateful, when the man contrasts his character 
and conduct with the absolute purity and spiritual 
beauty of God. -The true test of " conviction" is this 
aspect of sin. A sense of danger may mingle with his 
other ideas : but it is no longer prevailing. The preva- 
lent thought is the guiltiness of sin in God's sight. 
The man who is convicted of sin finds himself con- 
stantly contrasting himself with what he knows of 
God and Christ, and consequently he falls lower and 
lower in the scale. Humility is in the ascendant. As 
in Job's case, " Now mine eye seeth Thee, wherefore I 
abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." 

In true conviction, you will, I think, always discover 
a sense of the reality of the gracious offers of the Gos- 
u . 39 



458 PASTORAL VISITING. 

pel, and a longing to accept them : but at the same 
time such a sense of unworthiness, as prevents an im- 
mediate apprehension of them. 

Your object now is first to deepen these convictions. 
But the moment that you are satisfied of their reality, 
your purpose will be to lead your friend to an act of 
faith. He is not to wait for any preparatory process. 
He is not to expect to be made better by reflection, or 
by endeavoring to become fitter to ask Christ's mercy. 
Seeing that his sin needs pardon, he is instantly to pray 
for pardon. Seeing that his sinfulness needs reconcilia- 
tion, he is instantly to seek for admission to the family 
of God. Seeing that (although possibly he may nomi- 
nally be a member of the Church) he is really not of 
the body of Christ, he is instantly to undertake what- 
ever remaining visible act (Baptism, Confirmation, or 
Holy Communion) will bring him within the actual 
fellowship. 

You will impress upon your friend that faith is not 
an emotion, nor a sentiment, but is an act ; an act of 
will. Nor is it merely a being willing to believe and 
do, but it is believing and doing. And the believing 
is always followed by the doing, just as much as though 
they were part of the same act. And the believing is 
tested by the doing. So that to believe Christ is to 
follow Christ. The act of will is not a passive feeling, 
but an activity. Therefore conviction always passes 
into conversion. The man who is convicted of sin in- 
stantly turns round — is converted — into a follower of 
holiness. 

You will need some practical guides. The best is 
"The Anxious Inquirer/' which shows step by step 



TREATMENT OF THE CONVICTED. 459 

the narrow way into life. " Come to Jesus" is a good 
tract. " Morrell's seven words" is a better tract. There 
are many others. 

Vinet reveals some phases of difficulty in the act of 
faith which it may be well to study. 

" There are sincere and unhappy minds who, impressed by the 
Spirit of truth, and touched by the Gospel, are prepared to receive 
it, if they believed it were offered to them ; and yet find them- 
selves detained from entering at the gate, as by a chain which 
seems to be stretched before them by their education, their first 
impressions, too much or too little knowledge, I know not what 
— a sceptical temperament, which shows itself in them, even in 
things the most foreign from religion. It is well when we meet 
with such as these, to remind them that 'faith' according to the 
expression of an enlightened author 'realizes itself in the will;' 
that faith is nothing else than willingness to accept a pardon from 
God; that doubts which remain in the mind do not change it; 
that God has not made our salvation to depend on the vacillations 
of our feeble understandings ; that it is not the understanding 
which consents to accept of grace ; that it is not the imagination 
which is moved by it ; that it is the will, the only faculty always 
free, though feeble, which receives pardon, and turns itself to 
God, and may even cry, ■ Lord, I believe ; help thou mine un- 
belief."' 

11 There are Christians by anticipation. There are souls in a 
singular state, to which we have given too little thought. They 
are those which have anticipated, I was going to say taken on 
credit, the grace of the Gospel ; or who have appropriated the 
promises before having felt conviction of sin. They believe, 
they bless, they confess, they profess intelligently and sincerely, 
all that is essential to Christian character, but may want, I 
will not say the joy, which is not the habitual disposition of 
every true Christian, but the peace, the love, and, in a word, the 
life of the Christian. . . . This Christian is one by anticipation, 
and so to speak, by hypothesis. His mouth has been before his 
heart in saying, Lord, Lord ! He is familiar with the words, 
with the forms, with the thoughts of Christianity, without having 
his soul in them. One sign by which these persons may be recog- 



460 PASTORAL VISITING. 

nized is the want of progress and movement in the spiritual life. 
When the pastor visits them, he may find them well disposed, 
ready to confess their sins, their need of redemption, and the 
aid of the Holy Spirit; but at each succeeding visit their lan- 
guage will be the same ; variety is wanting, because the reality 
is wanting. If he is called to treat a malady of this kind, he 
ought, on one hand, to see that the soul, of which we speak, takes 
account. of its own state; and on the other, to take care that he 
does not renounce what he has, because of the manner in which 
he obtained it. He must exhort it to a silent and interior activity, 
to a severe application of the law, and to whatever disciplines and 
mortifies the soul, as well as to all works which, while they imply 
charity, develop it without danger of inflating the heart ; in a 
word, silently to imitate Jesus Christ. But the shades of this 
state are exceedingly various ; each of them at once requires and 
indicates particular measures ; the important point is precisely to 
distinguish and estimate each of them."* 

I think that the want revealed by the foregoing de- 
scription of a frequently recurring case is a want of 
thorough conviction of sin : and that the true remedy 
will be found in going back to that state of mind and 
insisting upon that experience as a precedent to all that 
is to follow. 



* Vinet's Pastoral Theology, p. 265. 



PASTORAL VISITING. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

TREATMENT OF CASES. 

The Converted. 

We have passed the critical point. We are now to 
consider the case of those who have passed from death 
unto life. We are to speak of the discriminations 
necessary in defining to ourselves and treating different 
spiritual conditions all of which are phases of spiritual 
living. 

The Christian Outsetting. 

There is a moment after the act of faith, and the 
resolve of the soul to serve Christ only and wholly, 
when a Christian pauses to take account of his position. 
Looking backward and forward he satisfies himself as 
to his real condition. At this moment a Pastor be- 
comes helpful in applying tests. 

Evidences of real repentance and true faith are to 
be sought for with all care. A physician does not 
content himself as to the sound health of a patient 
who has been sick, merely because in the sudden con- 
trast of relief from pain and danger, the patient ex- 
presses himself joyously. He goes over again the 
catalogue of symptoms, he feels the heart-beats, he 

39* 461 



462 PASTORAL VISITING. 

measures the internal heat, he hears the inspirations, 
and gages the exhibitions of strength. So the Pastor 
deals with his converted friend outsetting for the 
Christian life. He deals gently and with compassion, 
binding up the broken heart, yet not crying peace too 
soon. 

The evidences are : 

Repentance: exhibiting self-distrust; humility; grief, 
involving regret, amounting sometimes to self-abhor- 
rence; and, restitution, with manly resolve to abandon 
even the appearance of evil. 

Faith: exhibiting a restful realization of the fatherly 
love of God for the sake of Christ the Saviour. An 
absence of tendency to think or talk about his own 
desert or well doing, or the probability of his doing 
good service. A singular tendency to think much and 
talk (if at all) about the grace and love and undeserved 
favor of the Lord our Redeemer. A desire instantly 
to begin to work in Christ's service. 

A Pastor will observe that in applying tests to de- 
termine the existence of this new and healthful life, 
his object is to decide the reality not the degree of life : 
whether the person has been new born by the Holy 
Spirit, not whether he gives signs of maturity. And 
he will welcome any even faint signs of real spiritual 
living. 

Perhaps the best evidence is given by an unselfish 
desire to benefit others. "He first findeth his own 
brother Simon, and saith unto him, ' We have found 
the Messaias' !" This spontaneous outgoing of Chris- 
tian love is, I think, an invariable indication of true 
appreciation of Christ's love to us. It is impulsive ; 



TREATMENT OF THE OVTSETTING. 463 

not always discreet : but it shows itself first and in- 
variably. 

The Pastor is now to feed, as St. Paul did, with 
milk, and not with meat ; for the new-born child of 
God will not be able to bear it. He is not to fill his 
mind with doctrine, but his heart with love, and his 
hands with good works. He will avoid everything 
that will tend to excite the old evil passions, or revive 
the remembrance of them. He will cultivate modesty, 
not pride; quietness of spirit, not ostentation; a frank 
confession of Christ, but not in the attitude of boasting, 
or of one puffed up, as if he had done a good thing for 
which the Lord ought rather to be grateful to him. 
So that those Pastors act with reprehensible unwisdom 
who immediately set novitiates to become teachers: 
taking an untested inebriate for example, who has 
merely professed to be converted, and making of him a 
public advocate for the Christian grace of temperance ; 
taking an untried penitent fresh from his ungodliness 
and making of him a public preacher of righteousness. 

The wise Pastor insists indeed that a convert shall 
immediately confess Christ : but it is to be done not 
first publicly, but first privately ; by telling those that 
are at home at his house, by showing charity and grace 
in his family, by professing his Divine Master in family 
worship. After the private confession, then comes the 
public. And it should not be delayed ; but it should 
never be ostentatious. 

Xew Converts are to be immediately engaged in 
doing something for Christ. It will be their impulsive 
desire. The impulse is to be cherished, and formed 
into a habit. To this end a wise guide avoids over- 



464 PASTORAL VISITING. 

straining the fresh desire, lest from overactiou there 
will be a reaction, and the desire itself be lost. A 
wholesome check serves as a healthy stimulus. And 
those habits become firm which are of slow but steady 
growth. The Pastor now holds up constantly the ex- 
ample of the life of Christ ; that life which was not 
only holy, but busy, benevolent, consistent, and steadily 
increasing in its moral force. 

The dangers to which new Converts are exposed, 
should be a subject of earnest thought to a Pastor : and 
should excite his constant watchfulness over them. 
Vinet says (p. 258) : 

11 The fervor of a first love is useful directly by the works it 
produces. This fervor is also useful as a rebuke to those who 
have suffered the gift which was in them to be impaired. It is a 
leaven which God is incessantly casting into the mass of the 
Church. But this period is not ordinarily that of moderation 
and balance of mind ; and we know that the primitive Church 
interdicted the ministry to new converts. It is ordinarily the 
period of bitter zeal, of a controversial spirit, of severe judg- 
ments : we forget what we were the evening before, and we for- 
get it the more, it seems, because we have ascended from so great 
a depth. Though we know that we ourselves have been the ob- 
jects and the monuments of so great a patience, we are too ready 
to say impatiently of our neighbor, as the man of the parable, 
1 Cut him down ; why cumbereth he the ground V It is also the 
time when we abuse Christian liberty ; the time of presumption. 
We would preach to and school all the world, and perhaps the 
very person from whom we obtained our first light; whence re- 
sults a danger to this last, also, who may not be always disposed 
to say with Moses, < Would God all the Lord's people were 
prophets' — Numbers xi. 29. Let all this show the Pastor that 
new converts should be treated with both indulgence and sever- 
ity. He must not depress the spirit which is in them; nor per- 
mit a demon to enter through the breach which an angel has 
made." 



TREATMENT OF PROFESSING CHRISTIAN. 465 

The following books bear on the subject : James ? 
" True Christian," Hannah More's " Practical Piety," 
" Buchanan on the Holy Spirit," Clark's " Young Dis- 
ciple/' Abbott's " Young Christian." 

Various phases of Christian faith will appear ; and 
the modes of dealing with them likewise vary. Vinet's 
suggestions are very wise, and may well be studied. 

" All pious men are not pious after the same manner. Almost 
always one element predominates, and some other suffers. There 
is always a weak side to be strengthened, with which we must in 
the first place, make ourselves acquainted." 

11 To those in whom the principle of faith is prevalent we must 
recommend the practice of good works." 

"To the scrupulous and the timorous, that the Kingdom of 
God does not consist in meat and drink, but in righteousness, in 
peace, and in joy, through the Holy Spirit, and should unite with 
itself a feeling of tranquil trust in God." 

"To the superstitious, that is to say, to those who through 
weakness of imagination, or a sort of spiritual sloth, prefer, in 
inquiring for the will of God, to consult some sign exterior to the 
conscience, we must show that the benefit of faith is to be found 
not in our renouncing the natural means of knowing and judg- 
ing, but in causing us to make a good use of them ; and that to 
proceed otherwise is, under a vain appearance of piety, to remit 
to chance, or rather to passion, the labor of determining our 
course. n * 

The Christian making profession of his faith. 

It may not be without use to remind the Pastor that 
Baptism is not to be repeated. Inasmuch as a true con- 
version ought to be considered a precedent of a profes- 
sion of religion, some who have been baptized either in 
infancy, without having attained to the inward part 
which the sign signifies, or as adults, but in a state of 



* Vinet's Pastoral Theology, p. 254 et seq. 



466 PASTORAL VISITING. 

conscious irreligion, may suppose that this Sacrament 
should now be employed again, seeing that now they 
are able to use it rightly. We refer to what has been 
already said under that topic. The Sacrament of ad- 
mission into the visible Church of Christ can never be 
repeated without sin, because thereby the participant 
would set at nought the Ordinance of Christ, and deny 
the grace which Christ promises to unite w T ith the sign 
and seal to the faithful. 

So, but with less force, as to Confirmation. This is 
not a Sacrament. Consequently it may be repeated 
without sin. But the repetition is useless, and therefore 
improper. It is an indicative Ordinance, having a 
perpetuating sign. If when used it has indicated noth- 
ing because of the false profession of the Candidate, 
its sign (being a perpetuity) becomes indicative when- 
soever the Candidate reaches the point of a good pro- 
fession. 

Low notions of the use of the Lord's Supper are not 
so frequent. Yet a Pastor will sometimes discover cases 
where an unconverted person has used the Lord's Sup- 
per knowing himself to be unfit. It is sometimes, not 
often we trust, employed as the cloak of hypocrisy. 
Once in a while it is used thoughtlessly as a mark of 
respectability ; as a guarantee for entrance into public 
society. It is recommended by ignorant teachers some- 
times as a relief for what they deem undue spiritual 
anxiety. We have heard it reported in so-called re- 
vivals that persons were converted whilst partaking of 
the Communion. It is not less reprehensible, as we have 
known it in the elder days of our Church, that persons 
who were considered over-anxious on the subject of re- 



TREATMENT OF PROFESSING CHRISTIAN. 467 

ligion have been urged to come to the Lord's Supper, 
as a means of quieting their consciences, without hav- 
ing exercised conscious faith in Christ. Sometimes the 
Holy Communion is misused as a viaticum — a myste- 
rious safety chain — on a death-bed, when the patient 
unexpectedly reviving has sadly discovered how vain 
such a basis of hope would have been. The correction 
of all these errors is obvious : indeed, the correction is 
more than half accomplished when the person fairly 
states the error to himself or to his Pastor. 

Erroneous notions of the meaning, and proper prepa- 
ration for either profession of Christ, having been 
cleared away, there may nevertheless remain some 
sources of difficulty which must be wisely met. There 
may be too great timidity, as to one's acceptance of God. 
Recommend that your friend shall look away from his 
self-unworthiness to Christ's all-worthiness, and trust 
in it. There may be too great timidity, as to perse- 
verance. Recommend that your friend shall look away 
from his self- weakness to the Holy Spirit's all-mighti- 
ness ; for, under the principles of Divine grace a sense 
of dependence on God is really strc r :£th. There may 
be too great timidity, as to moral fitness. Advise that 
spiritual and moral fitness are found in humility; that 
the real ground of our acceptance at the Holy Com- 
munion is the merit of the Lord's death which we are 
celebrating : and that the first step of right acting as a 
Christian is to obey Christ, by showing forth his death 
until He come. 

On the contrary, there may be too great boldness ; 
foi it may indicate a danger, of rashness. Too great 
boldness, again, may indicate that the act of profession 



468 PASTORAL VISITING. 

is the result of mere impulse. If so, it should be 
tested. 

Too great apparent boldness, may after all be only an 
evidence of the real work of conversion, upon a peculiar 
temperament; i.e., upon a disposition which is naturally 
prone to self-confidence and brave forwardness. 

There may be an unhealthy desire to delay. They 
wait for more grace. They wait for more evidences. 
They wait for their friends to join them in the act of 
profession. They wait for friends to assent ; they are 
delicate in acting without advice. 

There is considerable danger in checking early move- 
ments of Divine Grace in the soul. Some hold that 
the Holy Spirit will always carry His own work through 
successfully. True. But He may choose to take souls 
through deep waters if the appointed guide is unable to 
show the right ford. We cannot excuse our ignorance 
or inefficiency or want of tact by throwing the burden 
on God. 

Books which may prove useful. On Baptism ; 
" Bickersteth." On Confirmation ; " Mcllvaine," 
" Tyng," " Wilson," « Bedell." On the Lord's Sup- 
per ; " Bickersteth edited by Dr. Bedell." 

The Christian, maturing*. 

A Young Christian must not be left, as soon as the 
Pastor is persuaded of his conversion, or has carried 
him forward to a profession. There is a special danger 
in our Church of considering Confirmation an end of 
the matter. The Pastor is to watch over young dis- 
ciples ; gradually leading them on unto perfection, re- 
membering that the perfect man comes by a gradual 



TREATMENT OF MATURING CHRISTIAN. 469 

growth. The way of life is to be travelled only step 
by step, each step in advance of the rest. Right prin- 
ciples are to be inculcated. Graces are to be cultivated. 
Holy habits are to be formed. Understanding of the 
Gospel is to be enlarged. 

The work of the Holy Spirit is to be chiefly dwelt 
upon, representing Him as author, helper, and guide 
in all that is good. Under the topic of Confirmation 
I have shown how to represent to young Christians the 
dangers to which they will be exposed ; and the duties 
that are incumbent. Sanctification is to be explained 
to be a process going on steadily, sometimes, indeed 
usually, with reverses, but steadily, and on the whole 
being growth. The Holy Spirit is its author and 
mover; but man himself the actor: man the co-efficient 
worker with the efficient Spirit. 

Books especially recommended are, " Buchanan on 
the Holy Spirit/' "Bickersteth on Prayer/' u Christ 
our Example/' ^by Caroline Fry. "The Young 
Christian." 

The Christian progressing. 

A Christian will exhibit one or other of two states 
of mind which may be designated as either introverted, 
or active. 

These two classes are easily distinguishable. The 
difference depends on natural temperament, and not on 
spiritual disposition. Both are true Christians; but 
they move in different spheres. The first is contem- 
plative, meditative, dwelling much on personal expe- 
riences and in self: the other is all aggressive, earnest, 
energetic, living outside of self in good works. As an 
illustration of the first, Thomas a Kempis, Fletcher, 

40 



470 PASTORAL VISITING. 

Payson, the Port Royalists : of the second, William 
Welsh, Howard ; and of the living, Miss Nightingale, 
and other practical workers. Both classes are to be 
treated judiciously according to their peculiarities, and 
by entirely different methods. 

For the Introverted, suitable books are, a The Pre- 
ciousness of Christ." Upham's works; " Interior Life," 
" Life of Faith." " Precious things of God." Memoirs of 
such men as " Payson," " Thomas a Kempis," " Paschal." 

For the Active, suitable books are, " Tongue of Fire," 
" Systematic Charity," "Abbotts way to do good," 
" English hearts and hands," u Missing Link," " Haste 
to the Rescue," " Ragged Homes." Memoirs of such 
men as " Martyn," "Brainard," " Howard," " Hoff- 
man," and " PattesoH." 

The Christian, under temptation. 

Here occur a large number of cases. For we must 
not be ignorant of the devices of Satan. As I have 
already said, he is a being of great power : and one of 
the Divine purposes in allowing his influences to con- 
tinue seems to be to strengthen Christian character by 
teaching us the necessity and methods of resistance, and 
thus developing our spiritual strength. The dangers 
arising from temptation are, that it may cause a Chris- 
tian to fall ; it may cause spiritual depression, which 
may lead to many disorders, and especially to religious 
unhappiness ; it may cause doubts of one's acceptance ; 
perplexities as to one's election ; doubts from want of 
assurance; it may lead to a sin against the Holy Ghost, 
or to a temporary hiding of God's presence, because of 
our loss of faith. 



TREATMENT OF THE TEMPTED CHRISTIAN. 471 

A Pastor's first object will be to discover the precise 
character of the temptation, in order to trace it to its 
cause. The three main sources, are the World, the 
Flesh, and the Devil : yet all three are finally reduced 
to one. For the devil uses both the others to accom- 
plish his purposes. If, however, a person is too ready 
to throw the responsibility of his temptations on Satan, 
it is probable that his own spiritual indifference is really 
to blame. 

The Pastor's second object w T ill be to determine, and 
make manifest, precisely how far the person has been 
in error ; by what means temptation has obtained inlet 
to the soul ; by what failures in duty, or possibly by 
what sins, of thought or deed, a door has been left 
open. This inquiry, faithfully pursued, will often 
suggest the remedy : at all events it will deepen (what 
is as often necessary) a sense of immediate peril. 

The Pastor's third object will be to rouse the soul 
against despondency ; by showing the nature of temp- 
tation, that it is not sin in itself, but only becomes sin 
if encouraged ; and by exhibiting its nature as a part 
of the discipline of grace, a test of graces, and a means 
of strengthening them. 

His fourth object will be to rouse the soul to resist- 
ance of Satan : by showing his comparative feebleness 
in presence of Christ; the strength of Christ's promises; 
the power of the Holy Spirit ; and the peculiar value 
of the Spirit's offices in this peculiar position of the 
soul. 

His fifth object will be to propose action. Too much 
thinking will only increase the trouble. I repeat some 
remarks previously made under the topic of conflrma- 



472 PASTORAL VISITING. 

tion. Try to take the soul out of itself, out of its 
fancied bonds, call it to work for Christ, make it forget 
its own troubles in the greater troubles of the world 
around ; and overcome desires of evil by giving full 
play to an overpowering sense of the love of Christ, 
and by yielding to the impulse whilst it works out the 
reciprocation of love into acts of love for others. 

Views of Christ's graciousness, and of the Holy 
Ghost's offices and love are now important. Two good 
tracts are useful here, "The Doubting encouraged," 
"The Preciousness of Christ." Books that are valu- 
able now are "Joy and Peace in believing;" "Christ 
on the Cross," " The Lord our Shepherd." 



PASTORAL VISITING. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

TREATMENT OF CASES. 

The Christian, under affliction. 

Providences are special and constant teachers. More 
is learned in this school than in any other. Under 
earlier trials Christians are apt to look upon every rod 
as retributive ; and consequently to draw an immediate 
inference that they are separated from God's favor. As 
soon as a Christian becomes experienced, the Pastor's 
task, as interpreter of Providence, becomes compara- 
tively light. 

His first object will be to show the real nature of 
Providential dispensations, as a part of spiritual edu- 
cation. 

His second object will then be to lead the Christian 
to the right spirit in which to receive burdens, namely, 
submission and patience. 

The Pastor's work at this point becomes very heavy, 
for his heart is heavy. Sympathy compels him to cany 
himself sadly. It is not easy to rise above his human 
nature, into that nature of angelic mould which could 
come down to Gethsemane, and even while holding 
the cup to a Saviour's lips, be a strengthening spirit. 
Nevertheless this is a Pastor's opportunity ; and di- 

40* 473 



474 PASTORAL VISITING. 

rectly in this line lies a Pastor's duty ; with tears and 
weeping it may be, but with the oil of joy in his hand 
meanwhile. 

A Pastor at such moments will surely seek Divine 
help in prayer. Nor will the Holy Spirit be absent 
when thus solicited, and in such an hour of need. 
Suggestions will come to the Pastor's mind in such an 
exigency. He may not know whence. He will not 
stop to analyze their sources. He will seize them. 

I remember a case where my heart was torn by the 
sorrows of two dear friends who had lost their only 
son, a bright promising boy, whom they had devoutly 
and from his Baptism dedicated to the ministry. He 
was growing rapidly in the fear of God. Suddenly he 
sickened ; and before they could realize the danger, he 
was dead. And all their hopes died with him. Their 
hearts were set on this purpose. And it was a right 
purpose. So right it was that they could not see why 
or how a gracious Father could disappoint snch a hope. 
I used all ordinary methods. They failed. I prayed 
with them and for them. The prayers brought no 
comfort. I read God's word. It was all true, but it 
did not touch the point of perplexity. I represented 
God's love, and God's wisdom. Of course they did 
not doubt either. But still their right purpose, conse- 
crated by the very Sacrament of his covenant with Christ, 
was shattered, and buried forever in the grave of their 
first born. Suddenly whilst I was praying for light, 
the Holy Comforter suggested — God has not disap- 
pointed the desire. The child has not indeed been 
admitted among the ministries of the earthly church : 
but already, while we are waiting and praying, God has 



TREATMENT OF THE AFFLICTED CHRISTIAN. 475 

consecrated him by His own hand, to the higher minis- 
tries of the Church in Paradise. Simple as was the 
thought, the effect was magical. Forty years have 
passed since that day. I have been with those dear 
friends since that day in many a sorrow. But concern- 
ing that particular sorrow, I have never heard a mur- 
muring word, from that instant when the Holy Spirit 
revealed to them, that, for their dedication of their first- 
born son to his service, God had already granted him 
a heavenly consecration to ministries in the very pres- 
ence of Christ the Lord. 

Admirable books to be used in such hours of trial 
are, u Buchanan on Afflictions." " Consolations," by 
Alexander. " It is well," by Bedell. Bonnar's 
" Night of Weeping." "The Family of Bethany." 
" Heaven, or the Sainted Dead." " Early lost, early 
saved." 

The Christian in Sickness. 

This is a form of affliction which brings a Pastor into 
intimate connection with almost every member of his 
spiritual flock, at some time. Cases vary so infinitely 
that nothing but general directions can be given. A 
Pastor is to strengthen, encourage, and cheer. Xo de- 
pressing views are to be taken. The case being that of 
a true child of God, nothing is to be done or spoken 
but what will animate, increase faith and brighten hope. 

The Christian in Insanity. 

A Pastor not seldom meets this peculiar form of dis- 
ease. It may be permanent, or temporary. Religious 
melancholy is a frequent form of it. All forms of it 
being results of disease of mind or of body, not being 



476 PASTORAL VISITING. 

results of religious experience, or dependent upon spir- 
itual causes, a Pastor can generally aid very little in 
removing it. He may soothe violent outbreaks; but 
he cannot cure. When any signs of reason recur he 
may suggest considerations applicable. But let him 
take care not to aggravate the disease. In such cases 
it is his duty immediately to recommend wise medical 
advice. All Clergymen are liable to meet such cases. 
One must endeavor to be self-possessed, calm, and quick- 
witted. 

My father was once left alone w T ith a lunatic w T ho had 
sent for him in the middle of the night, and who, after 
my father entered the room, locked the door upon 
him, and against the keeper. He declared that the 
keeper and his crow T d had agreed to hang him the next 
day ; and that he intended to keep my father as a host- 
age, life for life. It was of no use to oppose his aber- 
ration. My father turned the position by persuading 
the lunatic that the authorities had decided to defer the 
execution for at least a week : and that there would be 
time enough to appeal the case. This took several hours. 
It was daylight when he had accomplished this result, 
and the lunatic opening the door, my father was released. 

Vinet speaking of religious melancholy says : 

"As it appears to be certain that moral means maybe used 
successfully with a moral malady, the cause of which is physical, 
we think that the Minister, in concert with the Physician, may 
possibly effect something. The influence of the moral on the 
physical is as unquestionable, as conceivable, and probably as 
powerful, as that of the physical on the moral." 

" Sometimes the idea makes the disease; moral evil becomes 
physical evil — a disease properly so called : let us ascertain if it 
has done so." 



TREATMENT OF A CHRISTIAN IN INSANITY. 477 

11 We should be sorry to think that to persons in whom mental 
disease has become a complete insanity, the spiritual aids of the 
ministry must be useless. With them, especially, reasoning 
would doubtless be useless, and even dangerous. But I think 
with Harms, that even when discussion is impossible, it may 
sometimes be useful to speak. Solituae and the absence of inter- 
course may irritate the disease as much as injudicious contradic- 
tion ; and by inducing him to speak, w T e may obtain some insight 
into the patient's soul. Let us indulge the hope that, in some 
lucid or less perturbed moment, we may introduce into the poor 
wanderer's spirit some peace, perhaps some light, or may excite 
some favorable emotion which God may regard." 

" The mere names of the heavenly Father and the divine Medi- 
ator are very powerful, and often have effect when discourse can 
do nothing. A certain authority, a certain daringness is neces- 
sary ; we should be conscious of feeling strong : to use an expres- 
sion of Harms, there is a kind of magic in authority which faith 
imparts."* 

A Clergyman should make himself familiar with the 
causes of temporary aberration, as presented in " Whar- 
ton's Medical Jurisprudence"; especially with those 
which produce frequent periodical brief aberrations. 
As these occur in almost every Parish, a Minister, espe- 
cially a young Minister, is sorely harassed until he has 
discovered that they are natural, and pass away like 
other diseases with their causes. 

Prayer meeting with a Christian in Insanity. 

It happened nearly forty years ago. All the mem- 
bers of the family who were present on that occasion 
are dead. There will therefore be no impropriety in 
putting upon record the remarkable incidents of that 
evening. 

* Vinet, pp. 293-5. 



478 PASTORAL VISITING. 

As usual, upon Wednesday evening the little knot 
of Christian people in my first parish were gathered for 
prayer. Among them came a Communicant who was 
specially valued among us for her gentleness, quietness, 
and amiable traits, ancf for the devoutness of her habits. 
During the previous fortnight she had been attending 
religious services in the Valley : but as we had fre- 
quently conversed about them I had no reason to sup- 
pose that they had been specially exciting. It happened, 
however, that during the later clays of the meeting, the 
subject of our Saviour's second coming had been dwelt 
upon; and it happened, (as we should say unfortu- 
nately,) that during the same time, unknown to herself, 
my friend was suffering under the incipient symptoms 
of brain fever. She was in a condition of great excite- 
ment from this disease on the evening alluded to, but 
her husband, not realizing the danger, did not restrain 
her when she insisted upon going as usual to the 
Wednesday service. These facts came to my knowl- 
edge afterwards, and are necessary to be known in 
order to explain what followed. 

The service proceeded as usual; a brief form of 
prayer followed by a hymn, and then the reading of 
the Psalm on which I intended to comment. Whilst 
reading the Psalm, at an allusion to Messiah, suddenly 
a shriek ! Such a shriek ! It haunts me still. Most 
unearthly! sharp, shrill, terrible! It started the con- 
gregation to their feet. It chilled the currents of my 
blood. For a moment I stopped; until, recovering 
myself, feeling that to diminish the excitement I must 
retain self-possession, I went on with the reading. No 
further interruption occurred for a while. I observed, 



TREATMENT OF A CHRISTIAN IN INSANITY. 479 

however, that my friend had refused to leave the 
chapel. 

I began my exposition in no very collected frame 
of mind, and it is pretty certain without much co- 
herence. When in the course of remark the critical 
verse had been reached, again that unearthly shriek ! 
Most of the congregation left the chapel instantly. I 
could do nothing except shut the book, pronounce a 
brief prayer, give a benediction, and go to the side of 
my friend. By this time her agitation began to exhibit 
itself painfully. With great difficulty she was per- 
siiao- \ to leave the church. She refused to go home. 
AVe induced her to accompany us to my hostess' rooms, 
which were just across the street. There she began to 
upbraid me for the dishonor done to her infant son, 
who she affirmed to be the Messiah, by terminating a 
meeting which had been gathered in his honor, and was 
engaged in praising him. She insisted that the congre- 
gation should be recalled, and the services resumed : and 
absolutely refused to go home until her request should 
be complied with. 

At this interval, after nearly forty years, I can still 
feel the intense mental conflict of that moment. I had 
been a minister scarcely two years. I knew the inexpe- 
diency of using force with a patient in her condition. Of 
course to yield to the harmless vagary of insanity is the 
dictate of prudence. But could I venture, even in such 
a cause, to imitate the solemnities of worship ? At last 
I consented to the entreaties of her family, and I note 
the incident, if not for the guidance of others, at least to 
relieve somewhat their perplexities by my sympathy; if 
perchance they should ever be in a similar perplexity. 



480 PASTORAL VISITING. 

A strange party it was, that crossed the street, and 
went again into our little chapel, at the rear of the 
church. With what singular feelings I opened the 
Prayer Book to begin again our service ! For my 
friend insisted that not one Avorcl of the original service 
should be altered. But the all seeing One, reading our 
hearts, knew that the words we uttered meant not alto- 
gether what sounded on the ear, but that which filled 
our souls, anxiety for our friend and earnest supplica- 
tion for her relief. 

As all was solemn and quiet I began to be reassured. 
I reached the Psalm. When I mentioned Messiah's 
name, again that shriek ! I shut the Bible. My lips 
refused their office. Then my friend, observing the 
pause, said, "Let us pray/' We knelt: and she poured 
forth such a prayer as I can imagine the Saints to utter 
before the throne. It was joyously faithful, and full 
of hope. It was perfectly coherent, except when al- 
luding to her son as the Messiah ; for she mingled the 
thought with remembrances of the Infant of Bethle- 
hem. But it was redolent of praise; full of love to 
the Redeeming Lord. Her lips seemed touched with 
the fire of the Altar. We did not know how near she 
was kneeling at that moment, to the foot of the throne. 

When she had finished and rose, she said, "Now, 
Mr. Bedell, give out a hymn." I gave out the hymn, 

11 God moves in a mysterious way 
His wonders to perform," 

marvelling what would happen next. For my choris- 
ter had gone. All music had by this time deserted my 
soul. I knew that my friend had no ear for music ; 



A PSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOMENON. 4gl 

had never turned a tune in her life, could not even sing 
a lullaby to her children in the nursery. There was no 
one to sing. 

She rose; and then from that voice, all ignorant 
of song, came forth the hymn, to a familiar tune, as 
true and pure and musical as ever was heard on earth. 
It was such a song as Angels sing. Ex 'plain it, who 
can ? It is a psychological phenomenon not mentioned 
in the books, so far as I know. I have often thought 
that it throws light on that mystery of our future being 
— the perfection of our powers which is to follow the 
imperfection of their present earthly development. 
Here were perfect musical powers that had not only 
been unused during thirty years, but the existence of 
which was actually unknown to the possessor of them; 
which no exigency of maternal life had brought to 
light; which had been in abeyance, but were suddenly 
developed under the pressure of disease ; or perhaps 
by the removal of some natural obstruction, at the 
approach of death. Explain it, who can? There 
never was a sweeter song. She sang every verse of 
the hymn; no one accompanying her: all listening in 
amazement, and when she had sung, 

11 God is his own interpreter, 
And he will make it plain;" 

she said, " Now, Mr. Bedell, dismiss us with the bene- 
diction." She returned quietly to her home. In one 
week we carried her body to the burial. The mysteries 
were opened to her. Her soul was with her Saviour. 



41 



482 PASTORAL VISITING. 



The Backslider, 



Such cases must be carefully followed. Great pa- 
tience is to be used. Their condition is to be faithfully 
and judiciously revealed to themselves. The difficulty 
lies not in unconsciousness, but in an unwillingness to 
realize the true peril of their state. A Pastor must 
use every method to get behind this unwillingness. 
When that is done, especially when the person has 
been induced to volunteer a visit to the Pastor or a 
request for a visit from him, the special obstacle will 
have been overcome. The Pastor's first object will be 
to discover precisely what the degree and character of 
this " falling away" has been. The second object will 
be to trace its causes and origin. 

Generally the origin will be found to have been 
neglect of private prayer, and of the means of grace ; 
probably a neglect of divine worship, and of the Holy 
Communion : or more probably, as underlying those 
other causes, some indulgence in former practices of 
worldly amusements or ungodly society, which had 
been renounced, and for a time discontinued. Then 
the remedy will be obvious. But immediate action is 
to be pressed, by all the influence of considerations 
arising from the dreadful danger of this state. Dis- 
cussion concerning the doctrines of election and assur- 
ance in such a case are futile : yet you must not be 
surprised if this person should take shelter under the 
declaration that having once been the object of Divine 
grace it is not scriptural to suppose that any permanent 
spiritual harm can now molest. Satan's most cunning 
resource is not a direct lie, but an indirect falsehood : 



THE BACKSLIDER AND THE MISTAKEN. 483 

the perversion of truth. Your skill will be shown in 
preventing the mischievous consequences of this error. 

The Mistaken Professor. 

This is a dangerous case, full of difficulty; it requires 
great firmness and decision in the Pastor. The evil 
arises from too slight healing of the first wounds of 
the spirit : in other words from a too hasty profession 
of religion. The result has been that a person's pride 
of character and position have become involved. He 
is unwilling now not to consider himself a Christian ; 
for the eye of the world has rested upon him : and the 
inconsistency of continuing to profess to be a Christian, 
although unworthily, is less uncomfortable than an open 
acknowledgment of his error. 

The only remedy is to preach the Gospel over again 
to this person from the beginning. Go back to the 
foundations, and build again rightly. It is very diffi- 
cult and requires a great deal of resolution, of pains- 
taking effort and considerate thought ; it requires tact 
and skill, and patience. It will probably be necessary 
to restrain the person from the Communion for a time : 
but in order to be effectual, this discipline must avoid 
publicity. It must result from conscientious conviction 
on the part of the penitent ; and must be an evidence 
of repentance, and a means of deepening it. 

Books and Tracts suitable are, "Startling Questions." 
"Right Choice." "Renunciation." (Bedell.) 



484 PASTORAL VISITING. 

Practical miscellaneous hints as to Pastor's Visits. 

When entering a Parish, make it a first business to 
go the round of families and individuals; going to 
every family and calling at every house: every one 
without an exception, rich and poor, master and ser- 
vant, married and single. A system of visiting should 
be persevered in : both as to time, and order. No par- 
tiality is to be allowed to one's self either as to persons, or 
frequency of visiting.* A fixed time every day should 
be devoted to it ; as conscientiously as a time is fixed for 
study, and sermons; as decidedly as a time is fixed for 
reading, relaxation, or for dinner. 

As soon as circumstances permit, let the Pastor 
arrange for a weekly reception at his own home. 

Avoid too great intimacies in the parish. 

Never allow members of a parish to be on such a 
familiar footing, that they feel at liberty to run in and 
out of the house at all hours; thus constantly exercising 
a supervision of the household or family matters. 

Never repeat in one house what you hear in another. 

Establish a character for not betraying confidence. 

Talk about things and subjects: never talk about 
absent people. 

Never say a word, or allow a word to be said in your 
presence, disparaging of the Clergy. 

Cultivate a habit of recognizing people and calling 
them by name. This power of quick recognition adds 
greatly to a Pastor's influence. 

* Form of Kecord of Visits is given in Appendix. 



PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

History. 

One of the earliest results of the religious awaken- 
ing in the latter part of the last century, was a revival 
of care for the lambs of Christ's fold. John Wesley 
and his brothers, whilst arousing the Church of Eng- 
land to a sense of the error committed in loss of Gos- 
pel preaching, and lack of spiritual religion, effected 
a result probably little dreamed of, by awakening an 
inquiry as to the original cause of these religious dis- 
orders. They found it in the neglect of religious edu- 
cation of the children. No parents ever forgot to bring 
their children to the Parish Church for Baptism, or for- 
got to place their names on the Register ; but that was 
the end of their religious duty. And when the Rector 
had signed the children with the Cross and recorded 
their names in his book, he dismissed all thought of 
them. And so it happened that there grew up a gen- 
eration in England godless and lawless, uncivilized and 
disordered to a lamentable degree. 

No sooner was real religion revived than care for 
these lambs of Christ was felt to be an urgent necessity. 

Robert Raikes, of Gloucester, in 1781, is generally 

41* 485 



486 THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

thought to have been the originator of Sunday-schools 
for poor and untaught children : and his constant per- 
severing labors to perfect this system entitle him to 
every credit as the leading instrument in God's hands. 
But the idea was suggested to him by others : and sev- 
eral recorded attempts had already been made to collect 
these poor unfortunates into Sunday-schools.* Mr. 
Raikes survived until somewhere about 1811, rejoicing 
in the glorious change produced by this simple instru- 
ment under the hand of God. 

My knowledge of Sunday-schools dates from about 
1824-5, when my father had taken charge of Saint 
Andrew's Church, Philadelphia, and established a 
Sunday-school in the basement room under his vestry. 
Sunday-schools had existed in Saint Paul's, Philadel- 
phia, from 1816. And a Sunday-school is known to 
have been gathered by a lay reader in Quincy, Massa- 
chusetts, as early as 1819. But these, as well as that 
in Saint Andrew's, were intended, like the English 
Sunday-school, for children of the poor uneducated 
classes. Such were generally the scholars collected in 
the basement of Saint Andrew's. On one Sunday my 
father took me by the hand, led me down to the Sun- 
day-school, and placed me among a class of boys, under 
the care of William Russell. The room was close, 



* Those who desire to study the history of Sunday-schools will 
find in the Penny Cyclopaedia, vol. xxi.-xxii. p. 37, an account 
of Wesley's Method in Bedford, Lancashire, Sunday-school, 
five years before Eaikes's efforts : and also an account of Eaikes's 
Schools. 3 Section, et seq. Mr. Eaikes's views, and an account 
of the condition of the children, are given on the same page, last 
section. 



HISTORY. 487 

damp, crowded, and dark. There was small attraction 
in it ; but I shall never forget the gentle winning Chris- 
tian love of that dear servant of God. He won his 
class to him, and bound them to him, by a power of 
sympathy which I have seldom known equalled. 

The purpose which my father had in view, is re- 
corded in the Superintendent's book on that morning. 
"The Rector brought in his son this morning and 
placed him in the school, with the purpose of setting an 
example to members of the congregation." I speak of 
it because it marked a new era in the Sunday-school 
idea. Ideas of popular education were in their infancy ; 
like some other ideas. Steamboats were running on the 
Delaware River, the machinery of which was made in 
England, because it could not be well done in America ! 
Railroads were just beginning their transforming career : 
for even at a much later date, I travelled from Amboy 
to Bordentown, New Jersey, in a two-decker car drawn 
by a team of horses tandem. Stages were still moving 
on the regular route between Philadelphia and New 
York. The distributing reservoir for the Fairmount 
water-works was in the square at the crossing of Broad 
and Market Streets, in Philadelphia : and water was 
supplied to the city of New York by carts. So, 
ideas concerning this great enginery of Sunday-schools 
were still in their infancy. The Sunday-school was 
still deemed a place only for the poor and uneducated. 
The Alphabet, the Primer, and the Spelling-book were 
the common means of instruction. Indeed, they so con- 
tinued for some subsequent years. When I re-entered 
St. Andrew's Sunday-school as a teacher, it was to take 
charge of a class in spelling and reading: and my 



488 THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

labor on Sundays, when a student at Bristol College, 
was to walk some three miles to teach young men to 
spell and read. Consequently it was held foreign to 
Christian duty for well educated religious parents to 
send their children to school on a Sunday : deemed 
neither necessary, important, nor desirable. But the 
principal objection arose from indisposition to allow 
children who were well brought up, to mingle with the 
poorer children, unwashed and uncared for. 

Gradually this prejudice gave way. By judicious 
effort some leading families in the congregation were 
induced to send their children to the school. When the 
ice was once broken, the thaw spread rapidly. Until 
now, in these later days, an opposite evil has arisen, 
and threatens the cause. Our Sunday-schools are filled 
with the children of the wealthy and middle classes, 
to the exclusion of the poor and uneducated. Those 
for whom Sunday-schools were invented are now 
taught in Mission Schools and Parish Schools, and 
others; for new names are invented whenever a new 
necessity occurs for migrating with poorer scholars from 
contact with the rich. And many, even Christian 
parents, have transferred the duty of religious teaching 
of their own children to the Sunday-school Instructor. 
They forget the obligation resting upon them to train 
up their offspring in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord. 

As usual, truth lies between extremes. The Sunday- 
school like the Church should be composed of all classes. 
The need of religious instruction is a common ground 
on which all classes stand. The poor and uu instructed 
come to learn all truth. Those who are partially in- 



HIS RESPONSIBILITY. 489 

structed at home come to be better instructed. Those 
who are well taught at home find, injudicious Sunday- 
school instruction, an auxiliary to enforce and imprint 
the beloved teachings of home. 

Hence the Sunday-school rightly organized and filled 
is an epitome of the Church ; and the Pastor finds in 
this little church the representatives of all the classes 
whom he meets in the larger congregation. 

The Pastor's responsibility. 

Consequently his responsibility is sole, and absolute. 
The entire charge of the religious education, and spiritual 
welfare of these children rests on the Pastor's soul. Is 
it a tremendous responsibility? is it an awful burden? 
so is the charge of his parish. Indeed it is but part of 
the whole. It sometimes oppresses the more, because 
individuals, otherwise scattered, are. here aggregated and 
approached in mass ; or because individuals otherwise 
addressed at a distance, and as it were impersonally, 
from a pulpit, are here brought as close to the heart, as 
they are to the lips. The Pastor gets near, very near to 
their souls; and as he sees them hanging on his words, 
and moulded by every touch, the responsibility of his 
pastoral power begins to be realized. But no Pastor 
can transfer this responsibility. It arises out of his 
relationship and is inherent. 

Neither is it to be divided. Teachers have their own 
responsibility. A Superintendent, if there be one, has 
his responsibility. But their responsibilities are not the 
Pastor's responsibility. They are for the time in the 
place of Parents. But the Pastor, like the Parents, has 
original responsibility arising out of his divinely ap- 



490 THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

pointed relationship. God has given him charge over 
these souls. It springs from his spiritual oversight of 
the Body of Christ. And it cannot be divided with 
any one. 

If these two ideas are settled in your minds, the 
question is settled, whether the Pastor is Superintendent 
of his Sunday-school. There may be questions of ex- 
pediency as to how many details of superintendency he 
shall discharge ; but there is no question either in prin- 
ciple or fact that by his ordination, and appointment as 
Pastor, he is Superintendent of his Sunday-school ; and 
this superintendence is not to be merely nominal. A 
Pastor is not to be anxious to secure the name, but the 
thing. Nor is he merely to exercise power and au- 
thority; but he is to discharge those difficult duties 
which authority secures, the privilege of discharging 
which is the only valuable result of power. The selec- 
tion of teachers, and the direction of studies belong to 
him. As the whole spiritual value of the school de- 
pends on these two points, he is to charge himself with 
them assiduously. Securing what helps he can, yet he 
alone is responsible before Christ for every teacher's 
fitness, to whom he confides a lamb of the flock, and 
for all instruction that is poured in upon the impressible 
souls of these precious ones of Christ. 

Assistant Superintendent — Sometimes a name be- 
comes a thing. The name Superintendent sometimes 
implies the possession of a power and influence which 
excludes and supersedes the Pastor. As this ought 
never to be, I prefer to use the name Assistant Super- 
intendent for the officer, who is to be the Pastor's Lieu- 
tenant in the management of the Sunday-school. The 



HIS RESPONSIBILITY. 491 

Pastor is the superintendent, actually ; but not in the 
title. The Assistant Minister (if there be one) should 
be Assistant Superintendent. Otherwise let some well 
qualified influential layman be appointed. Neither 
social position nor wealth, but religious, moral, social, 
and ecclesiastical position combined, should determine 
your selection. And he should be thoroughly in accord 
with the Pastor. As he must often stand in the Pas- 
tor's place, he should be well acquainted with the 
Pastor's views, and be in entire sympathy with his 
general opinions ; if possible also with his peculiar 
views. There is only one Head to the Parish. The 
Shepherd has the responsibility for the way which the 
flock is to take. A strange confusion would there be 
should the under Shepherd, lead the lambs one way, 
wdiilst the Shepherd was leading the sheep another ! 
The Assistant Superintendent's piety should be assured ; 
his morality undoubted and unsuspected; his social 
position respectable; his intelligence well known; his 
general cultivation sufficient to enable him to hold his 
place with every teacher ; and his knowledge should 
be accurate both of Scripture and of those branches 
which illustrate it, such as history, geography, etc. He 
is a leader ; and is to exert power of influence. Such 
a right man is not easily found. A serious difficulty 
arises when a wrong man gets into this office. Some- 
times it is a less evil of two to allow him undisturbed 
possession. 

As a general rule it is wisest to take for granted your 
position as Pastor, and to assume the direction as soon 
as you enter the Parish. Where you desire to assure 
the Superintendent in his position, let whatever you do 



492 THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

be seen to be done in your relation as Pastor, taking 
pains to leave all that you can in the Superintendent's 
hands. Where the Superintendent is not judicious, or 
acts as you do not approve, quietly assume more and 
more of the direction. The result will depend on the 
wisdom you exhibit. If you are recognized as Super- 
intendent the reins will soon lie in your hands ; and 
if the unfit man do not speedily retire, at least he will 
become a cipher. Where the interests of a School 
require a change in the Superintendency, let it never 
be made hastily or violently, or by a mere act of 
authority. A wise Pastor will find many ways to bring 
his ends about, no one being the wiser. Perhaps an 
exchange of duty may be effected ; for the lines of 
talent for the posts of superintendent and teacher are 
not parallel. One who cannot guide a school may 
nevertheless be the best of teachers for a Bible Class. 
Executive ability to govern en masse, differs from that 
which influences individuals. 

Before leaving the subject of Assistant Superin- 
tendent I would say, that it may often be wise to 
select a woman to this office ; especially for girls. The 
best Superintendent of Sunday-schools I have ever 
known was the noble woman who had charge of a 
large girls' school during ten years of my father's 
Ministry, and after his death, for ten years longer, in 
St. Andrew's Church, Philadelphia ; and subsequently 
had charge of the girls' department in my school at the 
Ascension Church, New York, for a longer period : 
fulfilling more than thirty years of the most devoted 
and efficient service, terminated only by death, at 
nearly seventy years of age. Miss Thurston had never 



HIS CHOICE OF TEACHERS. 493 

been absent from her post for a single Sunday during 
all that period, except by absolute necessity ; and never 
a day from ill health. A woman excels in those pecu- 
liarities of disposition which fit a person for the duty 
of Superintendent ; whilst she may not have so much 
executive ability, she often has large religious devotion, 
purity of character, suavity, patience, and prudence; 
and by gentleness accomplishes the ends of Sunday- 
school government. By all means take a well-qualified 
woman for Superintendent, even of a whole school, 
rather than a partially qualified or ill qualified man. 
In such case, lead the devotions yourself, or when 
absent place that duty in the hands of some fit male 
teacher. 

The Choice jyf Teachers, — Pastoral visiting will aid 
you in discovering those who are fitted for teachers. 
It is not every one who has a desire, or even a religious 
impulse to teach, in whose hands that responsibility 
ought to be placed. If the Assistant Superintendent 
be prudent and judicious, the choice of teachers may 
well be left in his hands : the Pastor reserving only 
the right of confirming his nominations. And it will 
be important both for the Pastor's own sake, and that 
of the School, that the Assistant Superintendent shall 
exercise a large influence in the selection. It will aid 
his discipline, by increasing his authority. And it will 
greatly relieve the Pastor of an onerous task. Place 
in his hands the duty of dispensing with the services of 
unsuitable teachers, should that ever become necessary. 

Guidance of studies. — As a matter of principle, the 
Pastor will take control of all the studies of the 
Sunday-school. He will select the books, and arrange 

42 



494 THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOuLS. 

the course. It is as obviously his duty, as it is to select 
themes for the pulpit. He is to feed the lambs of 
Christ. He must know the whole constituents and 
proportions of the spiritual nourishment which is given 
them. Disagreement on this as on all topics is to be 
prevented by avoiding ostentation of authority ; espe- 
cially in one's opening ministry. Make the choice of 
books to be studied and arrange the methods of study, 
after consulting with your Superintendent, or through 
your teachers' meeting. In this latter relation you 
may not only have the benefit of the experience of 
those who have been co-laborers, and have shown their 
interest in the work, but here you will be able to in- 
fluence, and in a legitimate and effective way may lead, 
their judgments to accord with your own. 

The Pastor's relation to his Sunday-school is precisely 
that which he bears to every other department of his 
spiritual charge and to his Sunday scholars, that which 
he bears to them out of school. He is Pastor. 

The Pastor's responsibility for his Sunday-school is 
entire, before Christ. It is entire, before the people ; 
who have placed themselves and their children under 
his spiritual guidance. It extends to the whole su- 
perintendence of the school. It includes the selection 
of Assistant Superintendent; and of the Teachers. 
It includes the choice of books for study; and the 
course of study, and supervision of the mode of teach- 
ing and study. And incidentally, he is the judge 
of the character of all books that are read in the 
school. 

Qualifications. — In the selection of Teachers a Pastor 
should have regard to their possession of the following 



REQUISITES FOR A TEACHER. 495 

qualifications, which are arranged in the order of com- 
parative importance : 

1. Genuine piety. 

2. Good temper. 

3. Self-control. 

4. Punctuality. 
< 5. Affectionate persuasive address. 

6. Prudence. 

7. Firmness. 

8. Impartiality. 
[ 9. Patience and perseverance. 

1. Intelligent knowledge of religion. 

2. Intelligent acquaintance with Scripture. 

3. Love of children. 

4. General intelligence and cultivation. 



Elements of 
character. 



Preparations. 



In seleding^an Assistant Superintendent it is to be 
remembered that the position should be that of entire 
authority in his or her sphere. Consequently, after 
choosing such an officer, let the Pastor exhibit perfect 
confidence in him or her. The Pastor may place limits 
and define the sphere. But having done so, the position 
should be made one of entire authority within those 
limits and in that sphere. The Qualities necessary are, 

DlGNITY. 

Punctuality. 

a prompt and distinct utterance. 

Orderliness. 

Quietness. 

Firmness. 

Spiritedness. 

Goodness or manners. 

Good manners are not the least point to be thought 
of in selecting an Assistant Superintendent. He should 



496 THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

be a gentleman or she a lady, in the highest and truest 
sense : persons of thoughtful considerate dealing, sym- 
pathizing and sincere. They are under the necessity of 
dealing with teachers as well as scholars. Rough, bluff, 
blunt inconsiderateness is often real unkinclness. It 
repels, offends, and sometimes disgusts. The manners 
of a Superintendent are the models for imitation, and 
consequently should be a part of your system of educa- 
tion. 

Quietness in a Superintendent is especially necessary 
to the good order of your school. A noisy, boisterous, 
hurrying Superintendent, will be sure to keep a school 
in an uproar. Quietness subdues disorder, abates noise, 
gives weight to authority. A prompt and distinct 
utterance is very important. All being able to hear, all 
will be attentive. Notices of lessons, hymns, and ques- 
tions are not heard by any instinct. The opposite sort 
of utterance in a Superintendent invariably produces 
inattention and disorder. 

The preparations needed in a Superintendent in order 
that he may successfully face his position, should be 
carefully observed. His character will be reflected on 
the School. Consequently he should be an established 
Christian; and beyond that should be well considered, 
respected, and esteemed by the community. He must 
not be a novice; nor untried. The community having 
known him, parents will be ready to place their chil- 
dren under his care : otherwise your school is likely to 
be (as it ought to be) empty. 

The selection of an Infant School Teacher presents 
some special difficulties. I have seen all necessary 
qualities once combined in a man, Ashton Claxton, 



REQUISITES FOR A TEACHER. 497 

of Philadelphia. Generally they are to be found in 
an unmarried woman. Married women having been 
brought into collision with their children's tempers 
and wills, with worrying habits and evil hearts, have 
learned the necessity of using discipline not always the 
mildest. Therefore, as a rule, they are not quite so 
well suited to this task as the unmarried. Unmarried 
women think of the mode of disciplining children theo- 
retically ; and love and kindness are the only rods they 
employ. This method of treatment may be quite pos- 
sible, once a week, for one hour, without violating 
Solomon's precept or without interfering with any wise 
discipline of home. In general then I advise you to 
choose a young bright sprightly lively single woman 
for Infant School Teacher. She must be able to sing, 
and should love to sing. Before appointing such a 
Teacher to a permanent position, I advise that her apt- 
ness for the post be thoroughly tried. Let her make 
the experiment of instructing the class for several 
Sundays; and let the Pastor satisfy himself of her fit- 
ness before committing to her this most responsible 
work. 

The choice of Bible Class Teachers presents still 
greater difficulties. These Instructors hold an inter- 
mediate position between the Sunday-school, and the 
Pastor's own great school, the Church. On their com- 
petency depends the solution of that most serious ques- 
tion, so greatly agitating all Christian minds, how shall 
the Church retain its hold on those Sunday scholars 
who deem themselves, or perhaps really are, too old or 
too much advanced to enjoy or profit by ordinary Sun- 
day-school class instruction ? Our Common School 

42* 



498 THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

system provides a High School for such : but the High 
School pursues methods of its own under a higher class 
of Teachers than those who conduct the ordinary de- 
partments. The Bible Classes are the Church's High 
School. If the instruction should generally be the same 
in substance as that of the Sunday-school, and if possi- 
ble the same in subject, it should be pursued by such 
higher methods, and with such broader illustrations, as 
will render it supremely attractive to older scholars; 
so that they will not willingly be separated from their 
Bible Class. But to attain this end the Teacher must 
be superior; a superior person in mental qualities, in 
breadth of culture, in Scriptural knowledge, and in 
spiritual character. To say that we have few such 
Teachers is either to belie our Church, or to tell of its 
disgrace. I do not believe it. I have never found any 
such want, either in my little parish at West Chester, 
w T here my whole congregation numbered only eighty 
souls, or in the Church of the Ascension, New York, 
nor in any ordinarily alive parish in Ohio. The diffi- 
culty generally rises from a hap-hazard choice by the 
Rector, which it is not easy for him subsequently to 
remedy. He should take the Bible Class himself, until 
he can find a proper substitute : and he should realize 
that the proper substitute is not likely to volunteer, but 
must be sought for, and will probably be drawn out of 
modest retirement unwillingly, and only by pressure on 
the conscience. But let the right person be found, and 
the Pastor discovers that the questio vexata is solved to 
his hand. His scholars pass most cheerfully from the 
Sunday scholars' benches to the Bible Class, and from 
the Bible Class to his Confirmation Class, and thence to 



REQUISITES FOR A TEACHER. 499 

the active lay work of his Church, without reluctance 
and without a break. 

The Bible Class Teacher should have an acknowl- 
edged good social position in the community. He 
should be a busy man, not an idler ; she an active, earn- 
est w T oman, with no leisure ; neither of them having a 
moment to spare except for conscientious preparation 
for the Sunday Lesson. A lawyer, or an earnest mer- 
chant, who has scarcely leisure to eat bread; that is 
the man who will lay hold of this work for Christ with 
conscientiousness, and carry it through. A woman who 
is a student, whose family cares are no longer petty 
and worrying, but who is a leader in society and in 
social benevolences, whose conversation and wit are gen- 
erally attractive ; that is the person who will make your 
Bible Class the very centre of attraction. They will 
study the lesson not only to know what the words teach, 
but what the thousand revelations of God teach through 
the words ; revelations in nature, in art, in history, in 
daily circumstances. 

Such teachers may be found. Happy the Pastor who 
has an eye, and is guided by God's grace, to search them 
out. 

As a guide to determine the competency of a Bible 
Class Teacher, as well as to point out books suitable for 
such classes, place in your Teacher's hands such courses 
of instruction as " Eleven Months in Horeb," and the 
" Church in the Wilderness."* That sort of books, 
giving the results of deep study, and long experience 
in what is needed for a Bible Class, will test your 

* Published by Kandolph, New York. 



500 THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

Teacher's willingness and zeal, will stimulate activity 
in inquiry in the same direction, and will quicken the 
earnestness of every scholar. Every Parish in our 
Church contains such Teachers, or ought to. Let the 
Pastor find them ; or let him never rest until he shall 
have educated some to meet the occasion. 



PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

Definition of a Sunday-School. 

It is the nursery of the Church. It is that depart- 
ment of His household where Christ's children are 
trained. It bears the same relation to the Church as 
the nursery to the family. It is where His children 
are nurtured and trained to enter into and enjoy the 
employments and society of Christ's family. It is our 
Church's glory that she makes express provision for the 
religious education of her little ones. In this her rule is 
both Scriptural and Apostolic. From the earliest days 
children were the care of Christ's Ministers. The 
Sunday-school in these later days fills the place which 
was so largely occupied by Catechumens in the elder 
days. Those were indeed unbaptized ; but many in our 
Sunday-schools are in that condition. The resemblance, 
however, is specifically this, that Catechumens were 
being prepared to be admitted to all the privileges of 
the Church. And this is the distinct purpose for which 
Sunday-schools now exist. 

They are not nurseries in the sense that there 

501 



502 THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

children are kept out of mischief on the Lord's day. 
A Sunday-school is not to be considered a Creche — a 
home for small children, where at small expense an 
indolent or careless parent may send a child to be nour- 
ished in the word of life or what not on Sundays, whilst 
the parent occupies himself or herself in more con- 
genial employments. But it is the holy place, wh*ere 
the children of Christ, the lambs of his fold, baptized 
or not baptized, like the Catechumens of old, are gath- 
ered under the immediate superintendence of his Min- 
isters, and the Brethren, to be educated for Christ and 
his Church. 

Departments. 

Naturally the children will be divided into classes 
according to age : and sometimes according to advance- 
ment. 

The Infant School consists of those who are from 
four years to eight or twelve. The age varies greatly 
according to the advancement of the Scholars. 

The General Sunday-School is composed of all whose 
advancement lies between the Infant School and the 
Bible Classes. Here will be opportunity for making 
wise and prudent discrimination, between different de- 
grees of moral, social, and intellectual training. No 
discrimination should be made merely on account of 
social position ; none based on wealth ; but some dis- 
crimination is allowable on the score of social habits. 
Discrimination is always to be made on account of 
training, and advancement in the scale of intellectual 
and moral education. Some poorer children will ex- 
hibit more intelligence, knowledge of Scripture, better 
manners, more real gentility, than neglected children 



OBJECTS OF SUNDAY INSTRUCTION. 503 

of rich people; especially those whose training has 
been received entirely from the hands of ignorant 
nurses. City parents often leave their children to be 
cared for by hired servants; (many of them "French" 
nurses, who never left Ireland until they emigrated to 
America;) mere servants, having little knowledge, and 
less Sympathy. Of course these children fall far be- 
hind those who have been trained by prayerful and 
loving, though, it may be, humble hands, of parents in 
poverty. Such discrimination should be made for the 
sake of each class ; and of each child. The rule as to 
formation of classes is, to gather into each those who 
are nearest the same degree of intellectual and moral 
advancement. 

Bible Classes are for the more advanced scholars. 
They are not to be taught catechetically, but are to be 
instructed in methods of gathering lessons for them- 
selves out of God's word, and should be practised in 
this art. The sexes should be taught separately, as a 
general rule. 

Objects of Sunday instruction. 

The primary object in all departments is \he forma- 
tion and development of a Christian. It is to be kept 
constantly prominent. The object is not amusement ; 
not relief from tedium ; not secular instruction. But 
the distinct object is to develop the children as true 
Christians. This being so, it settles the question as to 
religious character in the teachers. They who are to 
lead children to Christ by the straight and narrow way 
must have gone that way themselves : and the higher 
the attainments of a teacher in the divine life, the more 



504 THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

successful lie is likely to be, provided he shall not have 
lost sympathy with the imperfections of childhood. 

An object of scarcely less importance is the formation 
of character. Character partly results from natural 
gifts; partly from correction of wrong biasses and 
habits, and largely from the production of right habits. 
All traits of character were originally good, and even 
the most noxious now are only perversions of what 
were right. For example, impatience is often only 
energy perverted or ill regulated : a desire to see a 
thing quickly done which lingers ; or an end quickly 
attained, when the reason for delay does not appear. 
Ambition and pride are not in themselves wrong, but 
only their perversions are injurious. Vanity is the 
perversion of pride ; emulation and jealousies are the 
perversions of ambition. Self-love is implanted in the 
nature for self-preservation : selfishness is its perver- 
sion. Now energy, ambition, pride, self-love, need to 
be regulated, educated, taught to hold their rightful 
place in the moral economy. And character therefore 
results, partly from the peculiar formation of one's dis- 
position as it is called ; and partly from the education 
or want of education of these peculiarities. As so 
much depends on early training of disposition, the 
part which a Sunday-school Teacher discharges is of 
the utmost importance. And one main effort of the 
Sunday-school Teacher should be to watch, develop, 
correct, and form these natural temperaments into 
permanent godly wholesome character. 

Another object is religious instruction, for it is the 
proper means by which to produce religion. Just as 
instruction is the first duty of the preacher, so of the 



OBJECTS OF SUNDAY INSTRUCTION. 505 

Sunday-school teacher : for upon right information of 
the mind is based the right direction of the affections. 
Even where conversion does not immediately follow, 
right instruction implants seeds which are never eradi- 
cated. We find them in later years constantly devel- 
oped into plants of everlasting life. A Teacher should 
therefore be always hopeful of producing direct religious 
results by conscientious and well-directed religious 
teaching. 

A last object, and only a little inferior, is by Sunday 
instruction to form in every scholar, an intelligent at- 
tachment to our Church: not blind, but intelligent 
attachment, for that will stand. And yet even an 
attachment that has no better foundation than tradi- 
tionary love, based on a parent's instructions, or a 
teacher's example, is far better than no ecclesiastical 
attachment at all. Miserable is the fate reserved for 
a Sunday scholar whose affections are dispersed through 
all sorts of forms of religious faith, and whose religious 
habits are settled nowhere. Generally infidelity results, 
or heresy ; almost certainly carelessness of religion ; and 
fatal irreligion. But a Pastor should desire this attach- 
ment to be intelligent. It should have a basis in his- 
torical facts and scriptural principles, and therefore be 
able to withstand temptation and attack. Distinct 
Church instruction should therefore be given. Not 
only should the whole line of instruction be churchly, 
that is, conformed to the standards of our Church and 
taking its tone from them, but definite teaching should 
be given as to the structure and government of our 
Church, the reasons for them and their propriety. It 
should never be controversial, never comparative, but 
w 43 



506 THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

always positive. It is better that the Pastor should 
give this class of instruction. He thereby insures unity 
of views. 

As a necessary corollary, Sunday scholars should 
never be allowed to attend the schools of other Churches 
than their own. The instruction in our own Church 
should be so distinctive, that there will be no tempta- 
tion for others than our own children to attend our 
schools. And believing, as I do, that other Churches 
are equally alive to the importance of this precept, our 
Parents should never allow their children to stray from 
our own folds. 

I recommend that free use be made of Bishop Gar- 
rett's " Continuity of the Church/' and "Clark's Walk 
about Zion." 

Means. 

The primary means of reaching these ends are the 
Word and Prayer. Except as the Bible lays the founda- 
tion for attaining these ends, nothing permanent will be 
accomplished : for as there is no real moral truth which 
has not its basis in Scripture principles and Divine 
revelation ; so no permanent influence can be produced 
on the character, except by the power of divine truths, 
by the guidance and aid of the Holy Ghost, and by 
the sanctions and assistance revealed in the Bible. 

The Word of God, therefore, is to be the main sub- 
ject of Sunday-school instruction. No other book for 
study is to be allowed to be compared with it in im- 
portance or influence. It is prime. And all other in- 
struction is to be referred to it. Even the Church Cate- 
chism, and lessons from the Liturgy, are to be taught 
as having authority, because God's word teaches them. 



THE MEANS OF INSTRUCTION. 507 

In every department the Bible is to be constantly pre- 
sented as the one Book, the main study, the Book to 
which all other instruction is referred and from which 
it derives its authority. 

The subsidiary means are : 

First. The influence of a teacher's character. It is 
felt. It is direct. It is powerful. Every illustration 
of character for good, (and alas ! also for evil,) strikes 
deeply upon the impressible souls who are watching 
voice, tone, manner, and word. A gentle, kind, affec- 
tionate, calm, religious morning salutation, for example, 
especially when followed by a similar manner through 
the hour, will, by and by, form a class upon that model. 
The children imitate what they respect and love. Alas! 
also they imitate more easily what leans to their own 
perversities. A cold, heartless, indifferent, perfunc- 
tionary character reflects itself speedily in producing 
chilliness in the hearts of the class. So a teacher's 
example tends to, or leads from, conversion; assists, 
or detracts from religious instruction ; forms good, or 
evil, character ; creates, or prevents, attachment to our 
Church. 

Religious instruction. — A teacher is interested in it 
and intelligent in it or not, according to his own re- 
ligious views and their fervor. 

Character. — A teacher, quiet, composed, well bal- 
anced, not surprised, not thrown off his guard by im- 
proper conduct or ill-advised speech, will produce such 
a character by reflex influence on his class : or if un- 
punctual, late, hurried, flurried, quick in temper, hasty 
in speech, easily excited by ill-doing, soon angry, im- 
patient, vexed, not studious, indifferent in manner, care- 



508 THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

less about the lessons, he will soon make his class sadly 
like himself. 

Attachment to the Church. — What attachment to our 
Church can result if a teacher in our school be a con- 
scientious Methodist, or Presbyterian, or Baptist, or 
such in heart; or if, what is almost as much to be 
deprecated, he be an Episcopalian who knows little 
about his Church, and can give no intelligible reply to 
the question, why am I a Churchman? Every Pastor 
should have teachers who revere and love our Church, 
if he wishes his scholars to grow up in intelligent 
attachment to our Church. 

Prayer is a teacher's main resort, for he needs divine 
help in his teaching of Scripture, in leading the tender 
heart to Christ, and in forming character. Prayer, 
bringing Divine aid or rather inducing a sense of its 
presence, is the Teacher's main support. Children soon 
learn to feel the power of a praying teacher. There is 
an insensible influence produced by a teacher's manner 
who by continued prayer lives within an appreciation 
of heavenly realities. And, there is also a sensible 
influence ; for a teacher who comes from his knees to 
teach his class, brings with him a glory and a spiritual 
radiance, reflections of the mercy-seat, which affect the 
children's keen perceptions like as Moses' face im- 
pressed the Israelites when he came down from the 
Mount, ignorant of the glory which he brought with 
him, but so vivid that his people could not steadfastly 
behold it. 

Method. 

System in Instruction. — There should always be some 
system. Nothing good is accomplished at hap-hazard. 



METHODS. 509 

To allow each teacher to select his own book for study 
and his own mode of using it, is no system. A thorough 
systematic tracing of the whole round of truth is to be 
secured. Studies should be so arranged that the Pastor 
as overseer should be able to address the School as a 
whole — as a unit ; which is impossible unless the in- 
struction has unity. 

The best system is that which comes nearest to the 
order of instruction in the Church. If it could run 
entirely parallel, if children could be taught in Schools 
the first elements of those truths which they are sub- 
sequently to hear expounded and matured in the pulpit, 
they would be prepared to listen to sermons intelligently, 
and would understand them. It is not impossible. 
Claxton's questions on the Gospels in two series, were 
written for my School in New York. They consist 
of two classes of questions : for the young on the text ; 
for the elder on the meaning of the passage. Addi- 
tional questions are given which can be still further 
expanded for Bible Classes, and which will direct each 
teacher to practical thoughts ; and there are added 
always a few questions on the ecclesiastical season, and 
the Church. This scheme I believe to be as nearly 
perfect as anything that can be devised. A series of 
questions of similar character and equal value has been 
published by Rev. Dr. French, of Cleveland, Ohio. 
Now, suppose, the same sort of book should be pre- 
pared from the Epistles ; another from the First Les- 
sons ; another on the Second Lessons of Morning and 
Evening service. We should then have six books, 
forming a course for as many years. And no system- 
atic course has yet been devised which would compare 

43* 



510 THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

with this in giving a full knowledge of Scripture run- 
ning parallel with the orderly teaching of the Church. 
On each Sunday all scholars in every department 
should study the same passages of Scripture. The 
Infant School should study it by pictures illustrating it 
and by the Teacher's comments on it. The Sunday- 
school lower classes, by questions on the text ; higher 
classes, by a second fuller series of questions; Bible 
Classes, by expounding the practical questions ; and the 
congregation, by listening to a sermon which should 
give the highest elucidation of the whole meaning of 
the Spirit in the passages. All these should be coupled 
with the teachings of the day in the Church's year. 
So a Pastor would accomplish all the ends for which 
he gathers his Sunday-school. 

Mode of conducting the exercises. 

These should be in harmony with the Church's 
modes : as to principle, liturgical, responsive, with 
brief preconceived prayers, and a short Scripture read- 
ing : as to posture, precisely that of the Church, rever- 
ential, and proper, — in prayer, kneeling; in praise, 
standing ; when listening to God's word, sitting ; when 
addressed, standing. 

Many liturgies for Sunday-school are too long. The 
service should be varied, short, and spirited ; a portion 
of a Psalm should be read responsively, and a chant 
sung. It is better not to repeat precisely the same 
features as will occur in the Church service. The only 
exception should be the reading a small portion of the 
Psalter for the day, in order to prepare the children to 
respond in the approaching service in the Church. 



HABITS. 511 

Habits in Sunday-school. — Habits are all-important 
in the process of education. 

Punctuality. 
Kegularity. 
System. 

Thorough study. 
Churchliness. 

All these should be pressed and fixed as part of good 
and true character. A devotional manner should be 
inculcated ; the habit of making audible responses ; the 
practice of kneeling in prayer (I do not mean mere 
bowing of the head), and standing in singing (not 
lolling), and reverential attention. Order in all things 
is a part of character. All habits are to be impressed, 
not as a convenience to the Teacher, or to the School, 
but as part of true education for the pupil. They are 
to form that character, which is to be the most precious 
inheritance which a scholar can receive from Sunday- 
school instruction. And all those habits are to be 
invariably practised by the Teacher. 

Modes of developing character. 

Punctuality. — No admittance to the Sunday-school 
room should be allowed during the time of worship. 
No book should be allowed from the library to any one 
who has not been present at the opening worship. No 
reward should be given for punctuality ; for punctual- 
ity is a duty. There is no merit in it. It is right. The 
proper reward is satisfaction for right doing. 

Habits of study may be encouraged by an expression 
of pleasure on the Teacher's part, when finding that the 
class or individual scholar has been industrious. A 



512 THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

Superintendent's report noticing a good scholar, and 
giving the name to the Rector ; and his subsequent 
commendation of that scholar will have a salutary effect. 
Let it be observed, that encouragement is to be given 
not for the amount of texts or the knowledge gained, 
but for the real study done according to the capacity of 
the scholar ; and for his actual comprehension of and 
acquisition of truths. A small advance in real knowl- 
edge is worthy of more commendation than large gains 
in the mere recollection of words or of facts. Pre- 
miums for the number of verses learned are often 
unjust, because they cannot be measured according to 
the natural capacity or the real industry of the pupil. 
They create unhappiness and do much more harm than 
good. 

Habits of Benevolence. — Give to a Sunday-school 
constant opportunity for real charity. Always let the 
object be large ; sometimes beyond their feeble efforts, 
but not impossible; let it always be interesting to them. 
Keep them informed about the object. Treat them 
precisely as you do their elders. Make this benevo- 
lence a matter of principle, not of impulse. Never 
allow them to contribute for the maintenance of their 
own School or their Library, or for anything that can 
have a possible tinge of selfishness. Their own gifts 
are desired ; not their parents' money. They should 
be taught to contribute of money which has been given 
to them to spend as they please, not that which has 
been given to them to give. No invidious comparisons 
between classes or persons in the amount which they 
contribute ought ever to be allowed. In announcing 
a collection, name the whole amount : but never name 



HELPS. 513 

individual gifts, and (I advise) never name class gifts ; 
for classes vary in their ability to make charitable 
offerings, and unhappy comparisons may arise, and 
unintentional injustice may be done. A loving spirit 
of charity may be checked — indeed may be killed — 
by praising the donations of a class which gives largely 
because it gives without self-sacrifice, whilst slighting 
the smaller gifts of a poorer class which have been the 
offering of a true hearty self-denial. A Pastor is to 
keep steadily in view, not present gains in amount, but, 
permanent habits of benevolence. 

Helps. 

A Library. — If it consists of such religious books 
as used to be published by the judicious work of the 
American Sunday-School Union, or the Episcopal 
Sunday-School Union, or the Evangelical Knowledge 
Society, or other like Christian Societies, it may help 
your children's education. But so-called Sunday-School 
Libraries prepared by booksellers of the present day 
entirely for their own profit, are an abomination, and 
should be abolished. 

Anniversary exercises are desirable : but in the mode 
of conducting them, they should be carefully distin- 
guished from worldly observances. 

School rooms should be made in every way convenient 
and pleasant. They should never be in a damp or 
dark, basement. The scholars' benches should always 
be arranged in such a manner that the pupils may 
surround their Teacher. Every eye in a class should 
be concentrated upon the Instructor. In no other way 
can attention be insured. Pictures, maps, and other 



514 THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

appliances to help in education and encourage cheerful- 
ness should be plentifully provided. 

Discipline should never be needed. Nor will it be, 
if both Superintendent and Teachers understand their 
duty and discharge it. But if it should become neces- 
sary, it will scarcely ever go beyond the temporary loss 
of privileges : as, for example, loss of the use of the 
Library, or of attendance at the Anniversary or Fes- 
tivals. If the Treasurership of the Class Missionary 
Society be always held as a mark of honor, and a 
position of high trust, the loss of the privilege of 
accepting that office will be a severe act of discipline. 
An incorrigible pupil should be excluded for the sake 
of other scholars, and, before his example shall have 
had time to ^tork mischief. 

Discipline as it respects Teachers, relates only to the 
subject of Reports, and to their discharge of the duty 
of visiting their scholars. Teachers should report 
monthly to the Assistant Superintendent, and through 
him to the Pastor. Reports should be prepared accord- 
ing to a schedule. They should exhibit always the 
punctuality and advancement of each member of the 
Class. The Reports should account for each absence 
of a scholar : and should exhibit at least one visit each 
month by the Teacher to each scholar. 

The Superintendent's Report to the Pastor should be 
monthly ; and should embody the results of the month's 
work and visiting. It should be accompanied by all 
the individual reports of the Teachers. 



RESPONSIBILITIES AND PRIVILEGES. 515 

Responsibilities of Teachers. 

The responsibilities of teachers are to be much urged 
by the Pastor. Their nature is shown by the fact that 
Teachers are in loco parentis for the time : charged 
with a parent's duty of religious culture. They take 
the place of sponsors for the time. The teacher's office 
is often a mode by which parents and sponsors can act ; 
and blessed are they when they feel towards their class 
as parents and sponsors should. But teachers are alto- 
gether misplaced, when neither a sense of responsibility, 
nor a love for their office animates their souls. Beyond 
this and higher is their responsibility to God : which is 
to be cherished by prayer. Below it is their responsi- 
bility to the Pastor. A sense of this responsibility is 
to be cultivated by regular systematic reports; espe- 
cially as to the spiritual condition of the Class. The 
faithful presentation of such reports has been known 
to bring about a revival of religious life in a whole 
school. 

Privileges of Teachers. 

These grow out of responsibilities. They consist 
in that intimacy, confidence, and personal attachment 
which grows up between Teacher and Pupil, and 
which often increases with years. 

A power of assistance comes also as a privilege to a 
loving teacher. He may aid the scholar in a hundred 
ways in after-life ; and bring many a blessing in times 
of sore trials and heart troubles. It is a precious 
privilege to have attained such a relationship of moral 
influence that a Pupil who needs it will not hesitate to 



516 THE PASTOR IN HIS SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

ask help, counsel, or advice at any time from a Teacher 
whom he trusts because he loves. 

Very important help will be given to a Pastor or to 
Teachers by careful study of " Forty years of Sunday- 
School/' by the Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, D.D., Senior. 
It records his experiences, none could have been more 
valuable. No other book of the age with which I am 
acquainted contains so many or such useful practical 
hints on the whole subject, of Sunday-School man- 
agement. 



PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

DIRECTION OF ACTIVITIES. 

Definition. 

The direction of activities is the next topic of our 
course; and is defined by the term itself. 

History. 

It is comparatively a new department of Pastoral 
labor: springing up contemporaneously with the in- 
creased activity of mind and work, and the quickening 
of benevolence in the present century. But only in 
one sense is it new, for it is as old as Apostolic days. 
The ancient Church was full of the labors of the 
Brethren ; illustrated remarkably by indefatigable ex- 
ertions both of laymen and of Christian women. 

With the decay of religion lay co-operation declined, 
and equally the desire for it on the part of the Minis- 
try. When religion revived at the reformation lay 
activity was called into play again. And when again 
after the reformation a reaction took place, and spir- 
itual religion became dulled, and the pious affections 
of the Church were chilled, parish work was again left 
to the parish priests, and the laity subsided out of 

44 517 



518 PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION. 

sight, so far as regarded any labors for the spiritual 
good of their fellow-men. With the revival of re- 
ligion under the Wesleys and Whitefield at Oxford 
University, in the last half of the eighteenth century/ 
a very wonderful outgrowth of laical co-operation was 
seen. This movement commenced with the little band 
of University students which gathered round the Wes- 
leys, and rapidly developed itself in the rise of Method- 
ism. But since the earlier years of the present century 
it has taken on new powers and energy, both in Eng- 
land and America; and indeed among Protestants on 
the Continent. Until 1800 even Methodism adhered 
in a measure to the old system, which was that the 
Ministry should be the sources of all spiritual instruc- 
tion and benevolences, and the active administrators of 
it. Under that system a new order of local preachers 
and class leaders grew up, a sort of ministerial laymen 
who formed the necessary link, in the slow movements 
of Providence, between the old idea that the Parish 
Priest is the only workman (however idle he may be), 
and the true idea that every true child of God is in a 
true sense a Priest unto God, and has a definite respon- 
sibility and a work to do for Christ in the salvation of 
men. This true idea that the laity as such have a part 
to do for Christ, is now the settled faith of the Church. 
Their part lies in three departments : 

Church benevolences. 
Individual charities. 
Spiritual assistance. 

Benevolences of the Church. — These are to a greater 
or less degree under the control and management of the 



DIRECTION OF ACTIVITIES. 519 

laity. As they furnish the means for them, and have 
equal judgment with and often more experience than, 
the Clergy in conducting them, reason teaches that they 
should largely control them. A wise Pastor will en- 
deavor to retain only so much influence over the benev- 
olences of his people, as to give them the proper direc- 
tion and prevent abuses. He will throw upon them 
the burden of responsibility, as well as of labor: know- 
ing that those who feel the responsibility, always labor 
most prudently and energetically. Whilst he will en- 
deavor to exercise sufficient influence, and authority, to 
enable him to give effective direction and administer 
correctives, he will studiously keep it from being in- 
truded, and will hold himself as much as possible in 
the background. His object will be to throw judicious 
and trusty laymen forward. It will be no little task to 
induce the right men to take a sufficiently prominent 
position. The best men will generally be modest or 
diffident ; and it will exercise a Pastor's judgment to 
restrain the ignorant forwardness of those who esteem 
themselves something w^hen they are nothing, whilst he 
presses out into prominent activity those whose meas- 
ure of their abilities is low, because their standard is 
scriptural and high. 

It is a favorite idea with some clerical theorists that 
the money of the Church should be placed in the Pas- 
tor's hands, with the entire right and responsibility of 
its distribution. In carrying out this theory they call 
upon the laity to give, but require of them only the 
duty of servants in administering the gift. To men- 
tion the theory in its boldness is to exhibit its weakness 
and impropriety. The benevolences of the Church are 



520 PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION. 

therefore to be thrown upon the laity. They are to be 
encouraged to originate, to conduct, to sustain charities 
great and small: and the Pastor is to retain only influ- 
ence enough to direct them wisely. 

Individual charities. — These are seldom exercised 
under the direct advice of the Pastor. They have 
more of the character of spontaneity ; and can hardly 
be included within the term church work. Yet it is 
well, if permitted, that the Pastor should exercise some 
guidance of them, and at least have cognizance of them. 
Sometimes much money and zeal are wasted by indi- 
viduals through want of information, or want of system. 
Sometimes individual charities interfere with, or become 
superfluous by, church charities. They are by no means 
to be discouraged. The direction of them is by no 
means to be taken out of the hands of those whose 
kindly thoughts have originated them, even should it 
be possible : for zeal and generosity would thereby 
probably be checked. But effort may fairly be made 
by a Pastor to weave them into the general line of 
his church's work. 

Spiritual assistance to the Pastor. — I use this term to 
indicate a special department of lay agency, in its refer- 
ence to the spiritual benefit of men. In this depart- 
ment laymen are distinctly assistants. They do not 
originate, they have no original authority, nor have 
they control or management, except as it is derived from 
the Ministry. The principle is this. All authority to 
teach and preach — to instruct by authority — is given 
by Christ, through the Holy Spirit, to Ms Ministers. 
This is the general law. There may be exceptional 



CHURCH BENEVOLENCES. 521 

cases. The Spirit may choose to use an individual 
who has no commission, except the evident anointing 
of the Holy One, for some noted evangelism. He 
violates no law of Grace towards the Church : because 
sporadic cases are quite as well known in nature and 
in providence as in this department, and their useful- 
ness must be acknowledged. Lay preaching then, as it 
is termed, if asserting original authority, is irregular 
and indefensible; but if it be in subordination to the 
Ministry, deriving authority to teach from the consent 
and advice of the Minister, and representing itself only 
as thus subordinate, it becomes a proper adjunct to the 
Ministerial work. In other words, in spiritual teaching 
laymen are helps only. 

A wise Pastor will make great use of this lay assist- 
ance. He will select wise, judicious, earnest-minded, 
truly pious children of God : and to these he will 
commit such acts of assistance in religious instruction, 
as will enable him the more faithfully and efficiently 
to carry forward his great work. They are to take all 
such burdens off his shoulders as he can dispense with ; 
for example, teaching in Sunday-school and Bible 
Classes, exhorting in cottages and hamlets and in 
private social meetings, praying with the people, visit- 
ing the sick and distressed, distributing religious books 
and visiting with religious conversation from house to 
house. In the degree in which these partake of a 
spiritual character, and require deeper spiritual knowl- 
edge, the Pastor will seek for more advanced Christians 
as his helpers ; but for the most cases, younger and 
immature Christians may be employed, who will by 
means of this labor be more rapidly developed. 

44* 



522 PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION. 

Necessity for Lay ivork. 

I have already shown the necessity of lay agency 
from the fact that the principles of the Christian 
system sanction and require it. But there are three 
other reasons of great weight : 

First. — No Pastor can do all the work of a Parish in 
these days of action, mental and religious. He may 
attempt it ; but inevitably he will fail of accomplishing 
it satisfactorily, or he will break himself down in the 
effort. It is a physical and moral impossibility. Under 
the Pastor who not only oversees, but does all the 
work, the Parish cannot develop its strength : or if it 
increases as it ought under his active energies, he must 
succumb. 

Second. — The necessity for lay work to the cause of 
Christ appears, by the consideration that all the powers 
of the Church combined are needed to carry forward the 
great cause of the Gospel. A battle fought by officers 
whilst the rank and file looked on idly, might be 
" magnifique," as the French said of the charge of the 
six hundred at Balaklava, but would not be " war." 
It would be almost absurd to attempt to argue such a 
point. It is self-evident, by the fact that every mem- 
ber of the Church is associated with every other, as a 
good soldier of Jesus Christ. 

Third. — The religious character of a Parish is to be 
developed to its utmost growth: graces, virtues, and 
energy are to be brought into full exercise. This can- 
not be accomplished by mere preaching. Reception of 
truth is not education. Education requires that knowl- 
edge and right principles should be put into practice. 



NECESSITY FOR LAY WORK. 523 

Education for the Law, Medicine, or the Ministry, is 
not completed until the novice has spent much labor 
in practising on his theories. And spiritual education 
is never advanced until principles which have been 
inculcated have been formed into habits : a Pastor 
must lead his people into exercising gracious disposi- 
tions, and the virtues of Christian character. There 
is no way in which these can be developed but by 
actions; actions which will exhibit these religious 
qualities. Such virtues and graces as benevolence, 
kindness of heart, sympathy, anxiety for the salvation 
of sinners, care for Christ's sick and poor, a large desire 
for the spread of the Gospel, can be thoroughly culti- 
vated only by deeds of charity, by visiting the sick, by 
the management of cases of pauperism, and by real self- 
denials and exertions in behalf of missions. A faithful 
Pastor, understanding this truth, will feel himself 
obliged, indeed will find his keenest happiness, in 
developing the religious character of his people by 
these active habits of usefulness. The task thus set 
before a Minister is of no little difficulty. It is easy 
to prepare sermons, and to direct the minds of a people 
from the pulpit or in the lecture room : but when they 
are to be followed, and watched over during the multi- 
plied difficulties of a religious life full of activity, the 
task becomes a mighty one, calling out all a Pastor's 
wisdom, ingenuity, firmness, zeal, and patience. 

Nor is it easy always to find work for his people. 
The larger the parish, and the greater the number of 
communicants, the more difficult it is to employ them 
all profitably. Often almost creative powers are called 
for in the Minister. He must make work when there 



524 PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION. 

is none, or rather when there seems to be none. For 
example, he must sometimes transfer his own work to 
the laity, for their sake, not for his own. A Pastor is 
expected to suggest work. 

It will be of service if I shall to a degree develop 
the main branches of lay activity, and give a few hints 
as to their proper direction. 

Charitable Collections. 

The necessity of system in this department arises 
from the fact that a congregation's charities are to be 
the result of a process of education. Education cannot 
be produced by impulses, or irregular stimulants, or 
disjointed efforts. This education, like every other, 
demands system ; systematic instruction of course : and 
equally (and this is our point now) systematic habits. 
These are produced only by fixed method, regular re- 
currence of opportunity, and continued repetition. In 
other words, some system (any is better than none) is 
necessary for this education. 

System is necessary in order that the habit of con- 
scientious giving may be encouraged. One may be 
quite ready to contribute according as God hath pros- 
pered him; but should he be taken unawares, at church, 
having had no time to reflect upon the merits of the 
object or to fill his purse for it, he is deprived of the 
opportunity of conscientiousness in giving. When, 
therefore, a system is in use, it should never be varied 
from. This rule is essential. Occasional collections 
should be discontinued. But in order to provide for 
occasional calls, and unexpected demands, let the system 
itself meet the want by one or more collections for mis- 



SYSTEM OF CHURCH CHARITIES. 525 

cellaneous objects, which shall be at the disposal of the 
Pastor and Wardens ; or by systematically arranging 
for and allowing an occasional object to have a place. 
The different si/stems practised in our Church are, 

"Weekly offerings. 
Communion offertories. 

Quarterly collections. 
Parish Collectors. 

Weekly offerings, are usually given without specifying 
a purpose ; and are distributed by the Rector, or better, 
by the Rector and Wardens, according to their judg- 
ment. 

The advantages are thought to be an encouragement 
of a habit of conscientious giving, irrespective of the 
excitements arising from sympathy with special objects. 

The disadvantage is, that the people cease to take 
intelligent interest in the specific and diverse operations 
of the Church. 

Communion offertories. — If weekly communion is en- 
couraged, these offertories are, as before stated, weekly 
offerings : and are subject to the same advantages and 
disadvantages. In parishes where the Holy Commu- 
nion is administered monthly, and where the number 
of poor is limited, the offertories may accomplish the 
purposes of a monthly offering : which is the system 
that I prefer for ordinary parishes not in a city. 

The system in the parish (Gambier) over which the 
Author is Rector is arranged on this basis: and I quote 
it as a convenient scheme, which now for more than ten 
years has served our purpose admirably, without change. 



526 PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION. 

Offertories. 

SYSTEM FOR GAMBIEB. 

BY THE BISHOPS. 



Pate. 


Season. 


Object. 


Dec, 1st Sund. 


Advent, 


Domestic Missions. 


Dec, 25th, 


Christmas, 


Dioc. : Widows' and Orph. Soc, 


Jan., 1st Sunday in 


Epiphany, 


Foreign Missions. 


Feb., 1st Sund. 


Epiph. or Lent, 


Distribution of Scriptures. 


Mar., 1st Sund. 


Lent, 


Diocesan Missions. 


Apr., variable, 


Easter, 


The Poor. 


May, 1st Sund., 


Ascension, 


Convention Fund Diocese. 


May, variable, 


"Whitsunday, 


Diocesan Missions. 


June, Sunday before Commencement, 


Education for the Ministry. 


Aug., 1st Sund. 


Trinity, 


Distribution of Tracts. 


Sept., 1st Sund. 


Trinity, 


Evangelical Knowledge. 


Oct., 1st Sund. 


Trinity, 


Distribution of Prayer Books, 


Nov., 1st Sund. 


Trinity, 


Diocesan Missions. 


Nov., variable, 


Thanksgiving Day 


, Freedrnan's Aid. 


Variable, 


Visitation Day, 


Disabled Clergy Fund. 



Quarterly collections, are made sometimes for speci- 
fied objects ; generally grouping three or four in one 
collection, allowing contributors to specify the object 
to which their gift shall go : the remainder to be dis- 
tributed by the Pastor. It appears to me that this 
occasion comes too seldom. The impressions are not 
sufficiently rapid in their repetition to produce a habit. 
Or the object is not specified. Then they are distrib- 
uted according to the Pastor's judgment. I think the 
parishioner hereby loses half the value of his act, and 
almost all the pleasure. It seems scarcely Charity. 

Parish Collectors. — This system is a valuable mode 
of interesting a large number of parishioners in the 
work of charity. It is not easily maintained. But 



SYSTEM OF CHURCH CHARITIES. 527 

when maintained it has many uses. It enables contrib- 
utors to give a large sum by minimum offerings. As 
the applications constantly recur, the habit of charity 
is more quickly formed. Many who could give little 
in money are hereby permitted to give much in time 
and labor. Great good has been accomplished by this 
method : although its difficult management has usually 
led to only an occasional temporary and interrupted use 
of it. 

The system recommended by my experience for 
city churches is that of monthly collections. Let them 
alternate with your Communion offertories ; that is, let 
your collections be fortnightly. It is enough and not 
too often. The Communion offering will be on the 
first Sunday in the month, for regular Communion 
purposes. The charitable offering will be on the third 
Sunday in the month, for your systematic benevolences. 

Let the order of these monthly collections be care- 
fully arranged ; and then never be changed — again, I 
say, never change the order, or the days. Remember 
that you are working to form a habit. It is an encour- 
aging truth, that by God's natural laws, a habit of be- 
nevolence, like any other habit, grows under proper 
cultivation. Your labor is hopeful. A parish will 
after a while require what at first they will not bear. 
The parish must not be overburdened; especially at 
the outset. But no parish should be allowed to choose 
to do nothing, or to give nothing. They have no right 
to commit spiritual suicide. Not to give to Christ's 
work, whether it be a determination made by a Chris- 
tian or a Church, is voluntarily to crush out spiritual 
life. 



528 PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION. 

The Church has specified certain objects which she 
recommends to her Clergy to present at specified dates. 
The General Church has recommended Advent season 
for a collection for Domestic Missions, and Epiphany 
season for a collection for Foreign Missions. Each 
Diocesan Church has named special seasons for pre- 
senting Diocesan Missions, and other objects specially 
interesting to the Diocese. Taking these hints as a 
basis we have the foundation for a system. Supposing 
the General Church to override all Diocesan directions, 
we have 

Systematic offerings. 

Advent. Domestic Missions. 

Epiphany. Foreign Missions. 

February. 

Lent. 

April. Diocesan Missions (in Ohio). 

Easter. 

June. 

July. Education Committee (in Ohio). 

August. 

12th Sunday after Trinity. Deaf-Mute Sunday. 

October. Diocesan Missions (in Ohio). 

October. 3d Sunday. Episcopal Fund (in Ohio). 

November. The Disabled Clergy Fund. 

Thanksgiving Day. A Thank offering. 

Christmas. Society for Clergy, Widows, and Orphans. 

Last Sunday of the Year. Hospital Sunday. 

IMPORTANT OBJECTS. 

Important objects which should form part of a Parish 
system of offertories are named in the following list : 



METHODS OF LAY CO-OPERATION. 



529 



Missions. 



Ministry. 



Diocesan. 



Parish. 



General. 



1. Domestic. 

2. Foreign. 

o tv „ f Missionary Committee. 

o. Diocesan. < 

I Church Building. 

4. Education Fund. 

5. Disabled Clergy Fund. 

6. Widows and Children Fund, 
f 7. Episcopal Fund. 

I 8. Convention Fund. 

r 9. Poor. 

I 10. Sunday and other Schools. 

I 11. Parochial objects (not benevolences). 

12. Bible Societies. 

13. Tract Societies. 

14. Evangelical and Beligious Knowledge Societies. 

15. Church Building Commissions. 

16. Prayer Book Societies. 

17. Sunday-School Societies. 

18. Trustees' Fund for Disabled Clergy and for 

Widows and Orphans of Clergy. 

19. Missions to Deaf-Mutes. 

20. Hospitals. 



Care for the Poor, the Sick, and the Infirm. 

It is advisable to appoint Committees for this pur- 
pose. Men may go alone; women, and especially young 
women, had better go by two or three in company. In 
larger places a Physician should be added to the Com- 
mittee, and a Lawyer ; for both medical and legal ad- 
vice are frequently called for in these visits. By judi- 
cious choice of the Superintendent of minor committees 
the whole may be* thrown into a system and easily and 
effectively managed. The Committees should regularly 
report to the Pastor : and weekly meetings of the Com- 
mittees should be held whenever the system is at all 
extended. 

x 45 



530 PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION. 

Lay Reading. 
Cottage reading, as it is called, is better managed by 
two or three going out together,- than by one alone. 
Lay reading has kept up many a vacant parish, and 
has builded not a few. In these efforts, of course, 
the Laymen go without the Pastor, and have the whole 
responsibility : but they always report to him. 

Distribution of Bibles, Prayer Books, and Tracts. 

In distributing Bibles and Prayer Books it is seldom 
necessary and very seldom wise to give them away. 
They will be more appreciated if paid for by those 
who receive them : although it is not advisable always 
to require the full value. The distribution of Tracts 
is an important instrumentality for good. Young men 
may often be occupied in it. Young women also ; but 
they had better go by two and two, at least in larger 
towns. Teach your distributors not to fall readily into 
the habit of merely dropping tracts. They thereby 
lose half the benefit of the religious act. Let the dis- 
tributors converse with the recipients, choose the tracts 
as judiciously as possible, accompany them with kind 
words, and when possible with a word of prayer. This 
latter implies, what is very desirable, a quiet friendly 
visit to the family. But be careful that it shall not 
seem intrusive; and also that it be not a visit for money 
giving. Charity visits and tract visits should be kept 
quite separate. The reasons are obvious. 

Religious Teaching in Schools arid Classes. 
Of Sunday-school teaching we have spoken. At 
Week-day schools religion may be incidentally intro- 



METHODS OF LAY CO-OPERATION. 53] 

duced. Small schools or classes are very valuable, for 
encouraging reading, or for sewing, or for teaching house 
work, or even for so apparently insignificant a purpose 
as keeping children out of mischief whilst their mothers, 
who must be engaged in daily labor, are working for a 
livelihood. Kindergartens are specially useful in this 
regard, and originated in this charitable design. 

Benevolent Societies. 

These may well be conducted by laymen rather than 
by the Pastor, but always under advice of the Clergy- 
man. Laymen will more judiciously, economically, and 
with less prejudice conduct such operations. In parish 
societies I should recommend the Pastor to hold a 
spiritual directorial office, rather than to be the execu- 
tive head. Exercise a quiet influence in getting them 
thoroughly in order ; then gradually withdraw to a point 
from which you can effectively oversee, guide, and cor- 
rect, without appearing to interfere. Generally they will 
need nothing on your part except an occasional hint 
given to an influential officer. Be sure to arrange it that 
some man or woman of influence whom you can trust, 
shall hold a leading position in each such association. If 
unfortunately you should find that a leader is refractory, 
or likely to interfere with plans which have been laid in 
reference to a whole scheme, make that person your con- 
fidential adviser, explaining your design, and the bearing 
of each part upon the whole. Generally what appears 
to be refractoriness is only want of information, or igno- 
rance of the Pastor's designs, and perhaps comes from 
an irrepressible activity of disposition, which if rightly 
guided will be infinitely valuable. By proper explana- 



532 PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION. 

tions, and confidence, a Pastor can almost certainly rely 
upon the very person who seemed to be thwarting his 
purposes, to become the most active leader in accom- 
plishing them. 

Missions. 

Under this head we include the formation of New 
Churches, and the establishment of Mission Sunday- 
schools, Free Churches, and Mission Churches. 

Every Pastor should induce his parish to become a 
direct Missionary. His object should be to plant and 
support Churches round him, in the most destitute and 
promising fields. This is the true method of extending 
the Church, especially in cities and large towns. The 
best mode is (generally) to commence with a Sunday- 
school. Get active Christians to go off to a destitute 
neighborhood and establish an offshoot of the Parish 
Church : returning constantly to the Parish Church for 
worship, care, advice, and for sympathy, realizing that 
they are part of the old parish. 

When strong enough to build, build a school house 
first, where services may be held. When strong enough 
to undertake a Church, encourage your own parish to 
colonize. It is an act of high Christian self-abnegation ; 
and can spring only from a true love for Christ's cause ; 
but it is an act of the highest wisdom, considering the 
grand interests of the Gospel. The Church presents a 
higher demand on your sacrifice and unselfishness than 
any parish can. Around such a nucleus, a colony, the 
new Church will readily crystallize. Let the colony 
itself be strong. Let it be of the very best material, 
containing spiritual character, social position, and wealth : 
and let the visible motive be that the members of the 



CHURCH COLONIZATION. 533 

Colony should live in the neighborhood where the new 
Church is to be planted. Without such a nucleus, 
a new Church in a city or large town must have a 
struggling and difficult existence : for not only will the 
older Churches have already absorbed all the active 
Episcopal life, but the new Church can scarcely fail of 
being regarded as in antagonism. The only sensible 
method is for the pastors and people of older parishes 
to agree together and encourage such colonization. 

By this principle the Church in Philadelphia has 
grown with marvellous rapidity, and grown strongly. 
St. Andrew's Church was a colonization encouraged by 
St. Paul's and St. James', Grace Church was a direct 
colonization scheme arranged by Dr. Bedell, when such 
a man as Jacob Lex, one of his most influential vestry- 
men, left St. Andrew's in order to give the new scheme 
his influence ; but left with the greatest reluctance and 
only under a conviction of duty. St. Luke's Church 
was a colony from St. Andrew's principally, under the 
leadership of William Welsh ; and he, with four other 
like-minded men, subsequently created Holy Trinity 
Church as a colony from many Churches, in a portion 
of the city where there was no Episcopal influence, but 
whither they felt that it ought to flow. And it did 
flow in continuous streams until that Church became 
the most influential centre in the city. 

In a similar manner the Church of the Incarnation, 
New York, sprang out of the Church of the Ascension, 
without antagonism, and with constant loving co-oper- 
ation. 

When a Colony is ready to move from a Parent 
Church, although it may possibly be not according to 

45* 



534 PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION, 

the Pastor's design, yet both Church and Pastor will 
be lacking in discretion if they endeavor to prevent 
it. The attempt to prevent never succeeds : but it may 
effectually weaken the new effort whilst it will certainly 
distract the old. On the contrary , let a Pastor and 
People encourage every movement which wall extend 
the bounds of Christ's Kingdom within the lines of our 
beloved Church. They will find that a true missionary 
spirit here walks hand in hand with true discretion. 

Free Uhurches. 

This is the place for discussing the principle" and 
policy of establishing Free Churches. 

No one can doubt that truly Free Churches are a 
desideratum. But for general success they require a 
system of state patronage (or its equivalent) such as 
exists in England ; where all parish churches are free. 
A few such churches exist in this country, established 
by wealthy corporations, such as the nobly endowed 
free churches of Trinity Parish, New York. Such 
free churches, where really poor people may have the 
Gospel without money and without price, and where 
they may have Pastoral care without feeling that they 
are encumbrances, and where the Minister may feel 
free to give his whole time to the work without solici- 
tude, are a blessed realization of the freeness of the 
Gospel of Christ. 

But Churches, which are not and are not designed to 
be really free, should not assume that honorable name. 
People who are able to contribute, should be encour- 
aged to do so. Every man in our free country expects 
to pay for what he receives, and values it accordingly. 



FREE CHURCHES. 535 

Our Church is entirely supported by the voluntary 
system. Every one is expected to volunteer a suffi- 
cient support for it : sufficient according to his propor- 
tion of responsibility; and it is equally voluntary 
whether it be given in the shape of pew rents, or 
subscriptions, or offerings on the plate, whether in 
envelopes or openly. The question is really one of 
method in contributing. In one class of free churches 
each one contributes what he chooses on a plate, under 
the watchful eye of his neighbors and the Minister. 
In another class of equally free churches, each man 
contributes wdiat he has agreed to give, either by pew 
rents or subscriptions, without espionage or neighborly 
observation. 

As to free sittings — -it is a fact that habitues of any 
Church always occupy the most desirable sittings. It 
is their right : and it is the custom, whether the Church 
be called free or not. No argument, nor exhortation, 
nor any arrangement, has yet been able to counteract 
this habit. It remains a fact. 

A system of free sittings must always meet with this 
serious drawback, namely, that it violates a funda- 
mental principle of our Church education. They pre- 
vent family association in Church ; not necessarily, but 
practically. They lead to the separation of children 
from parents, and break up the association of place, 
and home feeling in the House of God. A very ob- 
vious and very preponderating good would need to be 
shown in order to compensate for the loss of this 
Family element in our Church life. 

In place of this system, I recommend Missionary 
Churches. This system was first suggested and carried 



536 PASTORAL ADMINISTRATION. 

out by the Rev. Sayre Harris in Southwark in Phila- 
delphia. Let the Mission Church be made complete in 
all appointments, and paid for entirely. Then invite 
families, or individuals, to occupy pews on the old 
rule — "first come, first served;" each family or indi- 
vidual paying for a pew (or for sittings) whatever 
amount the family or individual feels can be conve- 
niently paid. Let it be voluntary : but when volun- 
teered let it be fixed, and become an obligation. This 
plan secures independence. It secures to each family 
the continuance of home life in the Church. It se- 
cures a sense of obligation; and of relation to the 
Minister, and to the success of the Church. It com- 
bines all the real benefits of the so-called free system ; 
and avoids its evils. This plan, other things being 
equal, has always been successful. In the second year 
of Rev. Mr. Harris's ministry it gave him a living 
salary. Many persons who could pay only one dollar, 
the first year, were not willing to pay less than five, 
the second year. The successful Mission Chapel of 
Holy Trinity Church, Philadelphia, was based on this 
system. In all your missionary enterprises beware of 
making spiritual paupers of the people who are to be 
benefited. 



PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

PAROCHIAL RELATIONS. 

Parochial Relations have respect to Persons and 
Property. We speak first of the Pastor's 

Parochial relations to Persons. 

The Vestry. — Under a system which has grown out 
of our national circumstances and popular ideas, the 
Vestry has become an important element in our ecclesi- 
astical organization. A Vestry originally had no func- 
tions except to care for the temporal concerns of the par- 
ish, and the proper comfortable maintenance of the Pas- 
tor, by providing means for his carrying out all needed 
spiritual offices in the Church. But our system devolves 
upon the Vestry, as representing a parish, a further duty 
of choosing and calling a Rector : and also of sending 
delegates to Diocesan Conventions, except where special 
charter leaves these duties to a congregation. Conse- 
quently the Vestry has become an integral part of our 
ecclesiastical system. The former of these last two 
functions very naturally leads to (although it does not 
properly imply) a frequent interference with the proper 
functions of a Pastor ; for if persons have a right to 
x* 537 



538 PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 

choose a pastor, it is quite natural that they shall feel 
a desire to vindicate their choice; and, if the pastor 
varies from the lines which led to their choice of him, 
to bring him back to them, or to indicate that he is 
disagreeably recalcitrant. A Vestry therefore some- 
times endeavors to direct, and sometimes directs, a 
Pastor in his duties; sometimes tries to rectify, and 
sometimes rectifies a Rector; sometimes reproves him 
for matters which are entirely within his jurisdiction, 
and sometimes ejects him for matters which the Church 
has left wholly to him, under the guidance of his 
Bishop. 

The other function, introducing the Vestry as an 
independent element into the control of the Diocesan 
Church, and through it into the control of the General 
Church, constructing canons, deciding points of doc- 
trine, and exercising spiritual discipline, has necessarily 
very much enlarged the sphere and responsibility of 
that representative body. It has brought the Consti- 
tution of our Church much more nearly into accord 
with the original Apostolic organization ; and possesses 
advantages which far outweigh temporary and occa- 
sional disadvantages arising from the fact that a Vestry 
sometimes forgets its proper relations to a Pastor, and 
sometimes oversteps those limits. 

A Vestry, if constituted of real representative men 
of a parish, of men of wisdom and education, and 
business tact added to true piety, are the very right 
hand of a Pastor. 'They are the most important of 
all instrumentalities which a kind Providence has given 
him to work with, and work by. His relations with 
them are most intimate; and ought to be agreeable, 



RELATIONS TO PERSONS. 539 

cordial , confidential, friendly, and indeed affectionate. 
A wise Vestry and a wise Pastor, understand that upon 
the cordiality of these relations depends the happiness 
of both parties, and both the temporal welfare and 
spiritual life of the parish. 

The pleasantness and usefulness of this relation de- 
pend largely upon the Pastor. One mind, one temper, 
one tongue, can be much more easily managed than 
ten. On his management of his own tongue will prob- 
ably depend that of the many tongues of the Vestry. 
And it is evident that if he be self-controlled, his is a 
commanding position. A wise Pastor will seek advice 
from such a Vestry: will rejoice to possess good friends 
who will tell him truth without favor. As it is to be 
supposed that they are gentlemen, (if Christians they 
certainly are gentlemen, for gentleness is a grace, and 
gentlemanness is the virtue that springs out of it,) he 
need never be afraid that the truth will be roughly or 
unpleasantly spoken : nor will it, nor can it ever be, if 
a Pastor seeks for the truth, and treats one w r ho becomes 
to him a truth-teller as not less a friend. A Pastor will 
endeavor to engage the members of his Vestry as helpers 
in his plans for the spiritual advantage of the parish. 
They will probably be his most efficient aids. 

Should a Pastor have reason to suppose that a member 
of his Vestry is troublesome, he will set himself to dis- 
cover the source of the troublesomeness. It may arise 
from his own plans, or his manner of presenting them; 
then the correction is in his own hands. It may arise 
from a natural activity of mind or body or both in the 
troublesome member, to which scope enough has not 
been given. The Pastor has the remedy still in his 



540 PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 

own hands : for if he will give the person enough tc 
do, the troublesomeness will be entirely expended on 
work. Busy-ness well employed will prove to be a 
blessing. If, however, unfortunately a natural evil 
disposition lies at the seat of the trouble, the Pastor 
must exercise patience, and seize the opportunity to 
learn that " silence is golden." The remedy will of 
course occur to the Vestry itself, and will probably 
be applied by the congregation on some fair Easter 
Monday. 

If a Pastor's plans appear to be particularly objec- 
tionable to some in a Vestry, it is important that he 
shall converse with them specially, in order to obtain 
insight of their objections and remove them if possible. 
Often nothing more will be needed than a definite 
statement of his reasons. As a general rule, after such 
a conference, if the Pastor be encouraged to persevere, 
he can safely intrust his project to the advocacy of 
those who were formerly unfriendly to it. 

The Vestry being really representatives of parish 
opinion, it is important for the Pastor to be in frequent 
and intimate communication with them. I recommend 
that regular meetings be held at the Pastor's house : 
once in each quarter certainly ; once in each month is 
best. The day and hour should be fixed, so that all 
may consider it an engagement. The Pastor should 
never allow anything to interfere with his presence at 
it, except unanticipated and imperative Parochial duty. 
ISo personal pleasure should be of higher value to him 
than the meeting with his Vestry. It should be a 
business meeting : but not for business only, because 
there will seldom be sufficient business to require 



RELATIONS TO PERSONS. 541 

frequent meetings. They will afford opportunity for 
friendly talk on topics related to the affairs of the 
parish : not concerning persons, of course, for that 
would be gossip — a vice naturally abhorrent to "Ves- 
tries, as it is to Pastors. I recommend, when possible, 
that the members of the Vestry, be received on such 
occasions as guests by the Pastor and his wife and 
family : be entertained by a simple inexpensive meal — 
a cup of tea and a sandwich j supposing the meeting 
to be in the evening, the most convenient hour gener- 
ally. I mean what I say — & cup of tea and a sand- 
wich, and nothing else : for if the Pastor begins to 
elaborate his entertainment, there will be no end to his 
expense, but there will be a very short end to the good 
purpose in view. The Vestry meeting should be com- 
menced by prayer. Such intercourse with a Vestry 
will prevent the evils that come from antagonisms; 
will cultivate friendly understandings ; will tend to 
harmony both in feeling and policy. 

The system of parish government through Vestries 
has its possible evils. The Pastor's wisdom will be 
shown in forestalling or preventing them, and in get- 
ting all the good out of this necessary relationship, of 
which it is capable. I have discovered some of the 
evils, since entering the Episcopal office, from the ex- 
perience of others. But I did not discover them 
during eighteen years of Pastoral life. And therefore 
I do not believe that they are altogether inherent in, or 
inseparable from, the system. 

The Vestry is an Incorporation, being Trustees by 
general law of a State. The present law (Swan, page 
227) of the State of Ohio should be understood by all 



542 PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 

Ministers of Ohio. The Clergy of other States should 
examine and rule themselves by the laws of their 
several States relating to the subject. • " Hoffman's 
Ecclesiastical Law," (a supreme authority ,) " Hudson's 
Law for the Clergy/' (Chicago,) " Bawm's Rights and 
Duties/' " Richey's Churchman's Hand Book/' all of 
them well considered treatises, should be studied. 

The mode of reviving a Corporation, if extinct, is 
given in Swan ; as also the laws which govern a relig- 
ious corporation or members of it holding over. Sim- 
ilar laws exist in all the States. The law of Sale or 
Exchange of Property is given in Swan, page 247. 
Some interesting legislation on the subject of Minis- 
terial lands will also be found at pages 1005-7; which 
has a wider application, I imagine, than to Ohio only. 

Canon II. of the Diocese of Ohio, and Canons in 
each Diocese, regulate the duties of a Vestry, and their 
relation to a Rector. The Minister's position and 
rights are clearly defined by Canon. He has only 
one vote as Chairman of a Vestry meeting, in tem- 
poral matters ; unless, perhaps, when he is a member 
of the Corporation. The question of a double vote is 
ably discussed by Bawm. In spiritual things, the 
Pastor is sole judge and executive. I refer also to 
the Country Parson,* which all Pastors will do well 
to read. 

Being trustees of temporalities it is a question whether 
the Vestry are not personally liable for misuse of the 
property. They cannot alienate any consecrated prop- 
erty, under Title I., Canon 21, of the Digest. 

* Country Parson, chap. xxix. p. 63. 



RELATIONS TO PERSONS. 543 

The Minister is presiding officer; and no legal meet- 
ing can be held, except by his call, or, in his absence, 
by the call of a Warden, unless in Dioceses where these 
rights are expressly denied. A Minister, therefore, has 
a right to be present at all meetings of Vestry : and 
as a rule ought to exercise it. Proper delicacy will 
suggest to him when exceptions should be made. A 
Minister who is not Rector has no right of attendance 
at Vestry meetings ; although frequently admitted by 
courtesy. 

The Wardens are special helps to the Minister. Their 
canonical duty is to keep order in the Church during 
Divine Service : to provide for due administrations, es- 
pecially of the Lord's Supper, providing the necessary 
elements; to preside in Vestry meetings when the 
Rector is absent ; to assist (with members of the Ves- 
try) in making charitable collections ; and to take charge 
of them (except the Communion Alms) when made. 
The Wardens are frequently very useful in providing 
seats for strangers. In this they may well be helped 
by a Committee of younger men appointed by the 
Rector. The Wardens should be the confidential ad- 
visers, and the special counsellors, of the Rector. 

An admirable guide to the discharge of these duties 
of Wardens and Vestrymen was published by the late 
Bishop De Lancey ; and has been added to and repub- 
lished by Bishop Huntington of Central Xew York. 

The Org 



On the Organist a Minister must greatly depend for 
the propriety of the musical part of the service ; for its 
spirit, and suitableness, and for his own comfort during 



544 PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 

the services. A right-minded Organist will move all 
the music in entire harmony with the Minister's thought 
and wishes. A wrong-minded Organist is able to keep 
both Minister and congregation in discord, and to make 
every note of the musical service a jar on sensitive 
spirits. The Organist should understand that although 
his skill is depended on, it is to be used in entire subor- 
dination to the Rector : and the Vestry should enforce 
this rule promptly and inflexibly. 

The Choir. 

So, also, the Minister must depend on the Choir for the 
efficient and pleasant management of the music. Both 
Organist and Choir should if possible be salaried ; or a 
proportion of them salaried : for this double purpose, that 
they may be depended on to do their duty at all times, 
and that they may be subject to proper discipline, or rule ; 
for a salaried Organist and Choir are of course under a 
Minister's control legally. He is (if he chooses) to 
appoint the tunes to be sung, and to supervise the char- 
acter of the music. But a Minister is also to bear in 
mind that in discharging these duties, he is not (under 
the rubric) allowed to act with entire independence. 
He is expected to accept the assistance and advice of 
persons skilled in music* 

* u And further, it shall be the duty of every Minister, with 
such assistance as he can obtain from persons skilled in music, to 
give order concerning the tunes to be sung at any time in the 
Church ; and especially, it shall be his duty to suppress all light 
and unseemly music, and all indecency and irreverence in the 
performance, by which vain and ungodly persons profane the 
service of the Sanctuary." — Rubric before The Hymnal. 



RELATIONS TO PERSONS. 545 

A Minister's task in conducting the services with a 
volunteer choir sometimes becomes very difficult; al- 
ways delicate; sometimes impossible. Even Solomon 
committed part of such a responsibility to Asaph, 
Jeduthen, and their brethren. It would have been too 
much for the Wisest of the Wise merely by wisdom, to 
manage a voluntary service of song in the Temple. 
And yet a Pastor who has genial good nature, with a 
moderate share of tact, and some knowledge (I do not 
say smattering) of music, will accomplish his object 
when wisdom sometimes fails. It is to be remembered 
that the best musicians necessarily possess a very fine 
and a nicely balanced nervous temperament. If they 
were not peculiarly sensitive they could not appreciate 
nice shades of difference in musical sounds. A Pastor 
recognizing this fact will be particularly discreet when 
approaching this sensitiveness. He will first make sure 
that the advice which he ventures to give is correct. If 
he should once direct a long metre tune to be sung to a 
short metre hymn, or a dirge to be sung on Christmas, 
supposing it to be a carol, his influence is gone forever. 
Not every one has Bishop Mcllvaine's wit and presence 
of mind in covering a retreat from a musical defeat. 
He used to tell the story with great glee. He had given 
out the hundredth Psalm : and as no one seemed prepared 
to " start the tune/' he began to sing what he supposed 
to be " Old Hundred." But he soon found to his dis- 
may that it did not fit, and as he altered " Christmas" 
to suit the metre, one after another of his congregation 
deserted him, until, at the last cadence his voice was 
heard alone. With his usual presence of mind, looking 
round the congregation and seeing a familiar face whose 

46* 



546 PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 

lips had at last closed in despair, and addressing that 
friend, lie said, " Brother Johnson, the congregation do 
not seem to know this tune ; will you please start i Old 
Hundred ; ?" 

But if a Pastor appreciates true and pure music, 
especially that of a sacred classical character, if he ar- 
ranges so that an earnest and skilful choir may some- 
times exercise their talents at their own discretion with- 
out hinderance, and if he shows a genuine appreciation 
of whatever is really well done, he has passed the crisis. 
Then, if he wishes congregational singing, whether in 
Chants or Psalmody, he will find the way open. A 
Pastor should attend the practisings of the Choir, en- 
couraging and guiding if he be a musician ; silent, pa- 
tient, and enduring, if he knows nothing about music : 
but even in that case exhibiting sympathy in the ardu- 
ous and troublesome task assumed by these volunteers. 

The Organist and Choir should always be religious 
persons ; at the very least they should be respectful to 
religion, and of devotional habits. If any irreconcil- 
able difficulty should occur, the Vestry is bound to sup- 
port the Pastor; and that by every consideration of 
principle and policy. They have placed the responsi- 
bility in his hands ; and they should maintain it there. 

Sexton. 

The Sexton or Sextoness is a most useful person. 
The Minister should aid, advise, and encourage ; and 
especially should commend the right doing of the hun- 
dred duties which devolve upon them. If he never 
meets a Sexton except to find fault, he will have himself 
to blame for any surliness or unpleasant temper which 



RELATIONS TO PERSONS. 547 

may very naturally respond to his occasional greeting. 
Happy is the Pastor who can remember, as I can, so 
faithful a friend, as old " Donaldson" the Sexton. For 
more than thirty years he was Sexton of the Ascension 
Church, New York : and during my sixteen years of 
Pastorship was true as steel, pure as silver, and precious 
to me in that relation as fine gold. 

Active Helpers. 

We have already written on this subject. We need 
add nothing except in relation to the Committee who 
may assist the Wardens in extending courtesies to 
strangers attending Divine service. They should either 
be grave members of the Vestry : or young gentlemen 
worthy of that name. They should be men of sym- 
pathy and discreetness ; and particularly appreciative 
of the sensitiveness of those who claim the hospitalities 
of a Church to which they are strangers. Especially 
they should feel that if Christian politeness says to " a 
man with a gold ring and goodly apparel," " sit here in 
a good place," it says precisely the same thing to " a 
poor man," and never says to such " sit here under my 

footstool." 

Poor. 

The poor should be treated with delicate attention. 
It must not be too marked, nor ever obtrusive ; but al- 
ways tender, and prompt. The poor should never have 
cause to feel that they are neglected ; nor ever that they 
are less the subject of a Pastor's thoughts than their 
wealthier neighbors. Christ's poor are rich in faith, 
and rich in prayer, and rich in earnest sympathy and 
love. And these forms of wealth should secure for 



548 PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 

them the constant attentions of their Pastor. Where a 
parish has pensioners, it is well for the Minister to fix 
a day in the week or month, and an hour, for meeting 
them and relieving their wants. Otherwise he will find 
his time unnecessarily hampered. 

Parochial relations to Property, 

Church Buildings — are to be under the eye of the 
Minister; and all necessary repairs or desirable im- 
provements, should be reported at once to the proper 
officer of the Vestry. Generally it is expected by the 
Vestry that the Minister will see the thing through. 

Herbert, in his " Country Parson/' says: 

" The Country Parson hath a special care of his Church, that 
all things there be decent, and befitting His name by which it 
is called. Therefore, first, he takes order, that all things be in 
good repair; as walls plastered, windows glazed, floor paved, 
seats whole, firm, and uniform, especially that the pulpit, and 
desk, and communion table, and font be as they ought, for those 
great duties that are performed in them. Secondly, that *he 
church be swept, and kept clean, without dust or cobwebs ; and 
at great festivals, strewed and stuck with boughs, and perfumed 
with incense. [This remark is Herbert's, not the author'- «*.] 
Thirdly, that there be fit and proper texts of scripture eveiy- 
where painted ; and that all the paintings be grave and reverend, 
not with light colors or foolish antics. Fourthly, that all the 
books appointed by authority be there ; and those not torn or 
fouled, but whole and clean, and well bound : and that there be a 
fitting and sightly communion cloth of fine linen, with a hand- 
some and seemly carpet of good and costly stuff or cloth, and all 
kept sweet and clean in a strong and decent chest ; with a chalice 
and cover, and a stoop or flagon ; and a basin for alms and offer- 
ings ; besides which, he hath a poor man's box conveniently 
seated, to receive the charity of well-minded people, and to lay 
up treasure for the sick and needy." 

" And all this he doth, not as out of necessity, or as puttlag a 



RELATIONS TO PROPERTY. 549 

holiness in the things, but as desirous to keep the middle way 
between superstition and slovenliness ; and as following the 
Apostle's two great and admirable rules in things of this nature; 
the first whereof is, ' Let all things be done decently, and in 
order'; the second, ' Let all things be done to edification' (1 Cor. 
xiv.). For these two rules comprise and include the double ob- 
ject of our duty, God and our neighbor ; the first being for the 
honor of God, the second for the benefit of our neighbor. So 
that they excellently score out the way, and in full and exactly 
contain, even in external and indifferent things, what course is 
to be taken ; and put them to great shame, who deny the Scrip- 
ture to be perfect."* 

Parsonage. 

Fortunate is the Minister who is permitted to use a 
Parsonage. It adds wonderfully to his independence: 
and it enables him easily to establish social relations 
with his parishioners. Unless there is a specific agree- 
ment otherwise the Minister is under obligation to keep 
his Parsonage in thorough repair. If he will remem- 
ber the old domestic adage "a stitch in time saves 
nine' 5 he may save his own purse, and the "Vestry's, 
many a large outlay. 

Grounds. 

The grounds round the Church and Parsonage should 
be kept in good order by the Minister ; should be orna- 
mented if possible ; should be made attractive, and be 
beautified. Slovenly grounds mark a lazy or slovenly 
Pastor ; for a proper care of them costs — not money, 
for he may not have money to expend, but — labor and 
oversight, and in those he ought not to be wanting. 

* Country Parson, chap. xiii. 



550 PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 

Grave Yard. 

" God's acre" should be the Pastor's especial care. 
Delicate charges which he will take of the places of 
the dead, will endear him deeply to those whose affec- 
tions are bound to graves which conceal precious forms 
of beloved ones. No one else will take this charge 
from love. The Sexton is paid for it. The Warden 
looks on it as a duty. The Pastor alone has his heart 
in it, because his sympathies are awake for the mourn- 
ers. He will not lose his time, if he shall occasionally 
spend an hour in planting a rose bush or a shrub among 
the tombs. 

Funds and Collections. 

The management of all Parish funds, and the charge 
of all collections (except that which is strictly Com- 
munion Alms) is in the hands of the Vestry : and, if 
the Pastor is wise, it will be left there. I advise a Min- 
ister never to take charge of ordinary offertories, never 
to count them, never to touch them after they have 
been placed upon the Plate. Let the Vestry exercise 
their responsibility. Let the Minister sever himself 
absolutely from the possibility of being obliged to meet 
unpleasant questions which sometimes arise both as to 
the amount and the disposal of collections. 

The Communion Alms is entirely at his disposal. 
He should keep an exact account of all receipts and 
disbursements: and occasionally he should exhibit the 
account to his Wardens or the Vestry. If he has done 
this, he may very properly refuse to allow an examina- 
tion of his accounts of this particular charity, should it 
ever be offensively demanded. It is a Church prin- 



RELATIONS TO PROPERTY. 55 1 

oiple which is to be guarded, that in the use of this 
fund, which his people contribute wholly for personal 
charities, the Pastor is to be entirely independent, and 
is to be able to act with the utmost delicacy and reti- 
cence for the sake of the recipients of it. He will find 
less objection made to his entire control of this offer- 
tory, if, in all other cases, he refuses to take any respon- 
sibility for either guardianship or distribution. 

Ohio Laws. 

Churches. — Protected against thieves ; and against malicious 
entrance. Swan. p. 271. Protected by Constitution, Article I., 
Sect. 7. Swan, p. 11. 

Burial grounds. — Public, exempt from taxation, judgment 
sale, etc. ; private, also, if not valued at more than $50. Swan, 
p. 171. Cannot be sold even by petition of parties interested. 
Swan, pp. 247, 248. 

Incorporation. — Process under general law. Swan, pp. 227, 228. 
A Church to be organized: at a meeting of majority, to elect 
any number of members, not less than three, to be Trustees, and 
one member as Clerk. A true record certified, and name of 
Church to be deposited with Kecorder of the County in which 
meeting is held, who is to record it at cost of ten cents for one 
hundred words, immediately: liable for all debts. Swan, p. 
252, n. 

Church lands. — Section 29 reserved for Churches. Dividend 
of rent to be appropriated to each Church in the Township on 
the second Monday in April. 1858, p. 36. 

Agent to be appointed by each Church to give certified list of 
members over fifteen years old. Swan, p. 1005. 

Church property. — May be sold after petition by order of 
Court of Common Pleas of County. Swan, p. 248. Held in 
common by two Churches may be divided (except burial ground) 
by Court of Common Pleas. 1859, p. 67. 

Sabbath breaking. — Selling liquor on Sabbath, disturbing re- 
ligious meetings. Swan, p. 302. No liquor sold within two miles 
of religious meeting except at usual places. Swan, p. 306. 



552 PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 

Marriage. — Banns to be published two days within County 
where female resides, or license from Clerk of Common Pleas 
of County where female resides. Minister to obtain license from 
Court of Common Pleas of any County — to be recorded in any 
County where officiating — to return certificate within three 
months to Clerk of County. Penalty, $50. Penalty for vio- 
lating law, §100. 

Without license — female under eighteen must obtain consent 
of parents, and banns be published. Swan, pp. 569, 571. 



PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 



CHAPTER XXXYI. 

PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 

In Parochial duties uniformity, rubricality, and 
propriety, are the rules to be observed. Uniformity 
is important in order that a congregation may not be 
disturbed or offended by unanticipated observances. 
Rubricality is important because it is the law, and is 
obligatory. The Rubrics should be carefully studied, 
and obeyed to the letter. Rubrics have no spiritual 
character ; they are merely letters of law : and they are 
to be obeyed punctuatim et literatim, every jot and tittle. 
The spirit is to be judged by the letter: and the 
Church, not the minister, is responsible for the effect 
of the rubrics on the service, and on the minds of the 
people. Disobedience of rubrics by defect can be no 
more defended than disobedience by excess. No Min- 
ister has a right to use his judgment, with respect to 
either. Nor after a long experience in a ministry of 
thirty-five years, do I believe that it is ever necessary 
to disobey a rubric on either side : for I have never 
knowingly violated one. Propriety is required by 
every one's sense of the decency of things ; and must 
be ruled by that sense. 

y 47 553 



554 PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 

Illustrating the possibility of improprieties — In 
olden times (forty years ago) I have seen a Minister 
throw his overcoat over the chancel rail, put his hat on 
the Communion table, and his overshoes underneath it, 
and then proceed to read prayers. In later days when 
proprieties are more observed I have seen a Clergyman 
enter the Church with his scarf hanging half down his 
back, and the other half in front : and his surplice but- 
toned all awry. I have seen a Clergyman sit in the 
chancel nursing one leg crossed on the other, his sur- 
plice thrown back for convenience. I have seen a Cler- 
gyman take out his watch and consult it, or even gape, 
whilst another Minister was engaged in the Desk or 
Pulpit. I have seen a Clergyman, who w T as credited 
with being specially precise, baptize an adult from a 
tumbler that happened to be on the table of his chapel, 
when the Font in his Church w r as not fifty feet away. 

Perhaps here is the place to allude to decency of ap- 
parel, politeness of manner, and cleanliness on the part 
of a Clergyman. It should not, however, be necessary 
to make more than a passing allusion to such topics. 
Cleanliness of the hands is specially necessary. Im- 
agine the disgust of a parishioner if a Pastor should 
baptize his child with unwashed hands, or should pre- 
sent the sacred symbols of our Lord's Passion in soiled 
palms or with dirty fingers. A similar remark applies 
to the necessity for keeping the clothes pure, and the 
breath sweet. A Clergyman who indulges in tobacco 
can scarcely ever rely upon the pureness of his clothes 
or of his breath. And if he is suffering from the 
odor that follows this indulgence, he should not enter 
the chancel, or perform any of the offices of religion. 



PUBLIC DUTIES. 555 

Comraunrcants have been known to retire disgusted 
from the Lord's Table, and in some instances have 
been unable to participate, because the Minister was 
noxious with tobacco smoke. A parishioner once re- 
vealed to me her reason for leaving a Pastor to whom 
she was strongly and deservedly attached ; because the 
perfume of tobacco in his clothes and his breath was 
intolerable. She selected another Pastor who had 
learned to deny himself such indulgences for the 
Lord's sake. An instance is on record, where a 
beloved Pastor was obliged to retire from the bedside 
of a dying parishioner to whom he had come to admin- 
ister the Lord's Supper. The very smell of his rai- 
ment on entering the room door gave the poor sufferer 
a fit of coughing which nearly strangled him ; and the 
Pastor was obliged to find another spiritual physician 
who could administer the consolations of religion and 
the last Sacrament to this soul. 

Allied to this subject is the important consideration 
that a Minister shall be certain that no disease is lurk- 
ing about him when he is to minister by touch. Of 
course, it would not affect ordinary ministrations ; but 
it might seriously affect others, for example, at bap- 
tisms, or in administering the Lord's Supper. It is 
desirable that a Minister shall wash his hands fully 
before entering on any clerical duty ; and especially 
before the administration of the Sacraments. 

Public Prayers are to be solemnized on all days re- 
quired by the Church. 

Public preachings and lectures are left to the discre- 
tion of the Minister. 

In Cathedrals, and wherever possible, public service 



556 PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 

should be held on every day : but where no "congrega- 
tion can be had, or where after proper effort a congre- 
gation will not attend, such a service becomes not public 
but private, and would be no longer a reasonable ser- 
vice. Daily public prayers are of much value to the 
afflicted, to strangers, to those whose minds or hearts 
are burdened or disturbed. 

In all cases, ordinary uses and observances should be 
followed : and even when the congregation is the small- 
est, the Minister should avoid haste or hurry, and re- 
member the solemn proprieties of his office. 

Ordinary Rides for Public Prayers vary according 
to the customs of Dioceses : but should always be within 
the rubrics. 

The Minister is to pray with the people, and there- 
fore not to turn his back to them. A Romish Priest, 
believing that the Body, Soul, and Divinity of Christ 
are present in the wafer on the Altar, may readily be 
excused for keeping his face to it : but a Clergyman 
of our Church knowing that the Divine presence is 
really in the hearts of devout worshippers, should speak 
to them face to face, as he endeavors to kindle devotion 
heart to heart. 

The service should be read distinctly enough and 
slowly enough for ordinary worshippers to follow. 
Gabbling is offensive to taste and destructive to wor- 
ship. In responsive portions full opportunity should 
be given to the people to respond, before the Minister 
advances to the next portion. The Bible should be 
read ; read not as an ordinary book, but as the Word 
from God. The Prayers should be prayed ; prayed as 
one would speak to the Most High God, in his imme- 



CHURCH SEASONS. 557 

diate presence. Entrance into, and retiring from the 
church should be grave, serious, and with a conscious- 
ness of being in the presence of God. 
Special rules apply to 

Church Seasons. 

Advent. — The services commencing on the first 
Sunday in the season solemnly, should become more 
joyous as Christmas approaches. The season is appro- 
priate for urging Domestic Missions. 

Christmas should be celebrated with joyous songs 
and hymns and the Holy Communion : the sermon 
being in keeping with the associations. Evergreen 
decorations and flowers are in order, (except where dis- 
approved by Ecclesiastical authority,) provided they are 
gifts of loving hearts : not when hired for the occasion 
as a vain show. But flowers on the Lord's Table 
during the administration of the Holy Communion are 
not provided for by the rubrics. The Holy Days im- 
mediately preceding and following Christmas should 
be observed as parts of the Holy Season. 

Circumcision. (New Year.) — On New Year's Eve 
a sermon is very useful. The New Year should always 
be opened by a holy service. As it generally occurs 
on a week-day, and a very busy one, a sermon on Xew 
Year's morning is not usually advisable. 

Epiphany. — The subject of Foreign Missions should 
be presented during this season. The Holy Day itself, 
occurring usually in the midst of the week, can very 
seldom be made use of for preaching, except in cities. 
The Holy Communion should be administered. 



47* 



558 PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 



ASH WEDNESDAY. 

As this is a Fast day, of course the administration of 
the Holy Communion is inadmissible.* One would 
not think of mingling the highest expression of holy 
joy with this expression of penitent grief. Morning 
and Evening Prayers should always be held, whether in 
city or country. The people should be urged, and 
taught by example, to gather for devotion on such a 
day. It is well to use the Lesser Litany as well as the 
Greater on Ash Wednesday. 

LENT. 

During Lent extra services, with sermons or lectures, 
or short addresses should be held. Twice in each 
week is little enough. Sometimes it is wise to hold a 
morning service without sermon on Wednesdays. A 
briefer service with lecture or address on Fridays. As 
it is a season for self-denials, it is well to urge the peo- 
ple to special offerings for the cause of the Gospel : or 
for special charities, as means of encouraging self-denial. 

PASSION WEEK AND GOOD FRIDAY. 

The administration of the Holy Communion is not 
allowable during this week (nor, indeed, during Lent, 

* The new practice of administering the Lord's Supper on 
Fast days, seems to have originated in the fearfulness and 
dread, and consequent excessive penitence, with which one 
would approach a Mystery. On the contrary, hopefulness, joy- 
ousness, and the confidence of a certain faith, are the emotions 
which ought to be in exercise. The Holy Communion is in all 
senses a sacred Feast, and belongs only to a Festival season. 



CHURCH SEASONS. 559 

except on the Lord's Day, which is a Feast) ; but is 
excluded both by the reason of the thing, and by 
ancient Canons* and custom. It is the most solemn 
Fast of the year, continuing for the whole six days. 
\Te cannot mingle our Feast with our Fast. To cele- 
brate the Holy Communion on Holy Thursday evening, 
will be to commemorate the Supper, rather than to 
" show forth the Lord's death" : and is an observance 
expressly forbidden by the rule already mentioned. 

Good Friday service should always be accompanied 
by a sermon in the morning : and a second service in 
the day is desirable, with a sermon or address if possi- 
ble. An offering on behalf of Missions to the Jews is 
appropriate on this Holy day. 

Easter Even (Saturday) on account of its associations 
is one of the most sacredly solemn days in the whole 
year. Yet its meaning is frequently overlooked : and 
its services are often neglected. Easter Even should 
be the Church's day for decorating the tombs of her 
faithful dead : and this commemoration of our sorrows 
and our hopes, all clustering around the dead Body of 
our Christ, which, in our celebrations, although lifeless, 
is waiting to arise, should be deep, earnest, and heart 
full. 

EASTER. 

On Easter day every service and association is joy- 
ous. This is one of the three High Festivals of the 
Ancient Church on which the Lord's Supper, our Feast 
of Holy joy, was always administered. Anthems are 
appropriate on this day (as als^ on Christmas and 

* Vide Canon XLIX of the Council of Laodicea. 



560 PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 

Whitsuntide) and may be sung by the Choir alone: the 
words to be selected from Scripture or the Book of 
Common Prayer. These should not interfere with the 
regular order appointed : but may be interjected at the 
intervals ; before or after service, before or after the 
Sermon. 

ASCENSION. 

This significant Festival has been much disused. It 
should be treated as of even more significance than 
Epiphany: and celebrated, if possible, by administering 
the Lord's Supper. 

WHIT-SUNDAY. 

This is a day specially suitable for celebrating the 
Lord's Supper : and all associations and decorations and 
sermons should be of the most joyous description. It 
is the Day especially appropriate for Baptisms. It was 
so employed in the Ancient Church : and the custom 
might well be revived. It is sad enough to see how 
generally Baptisms are thrust into a corner. 

TRINITY. 

Trinity Sunday presents the doctrinal consummation 
of the teachings of all previous Festivals. The Lord's 
Supper is very appropriately celebrated on this day. 
The Sermon should invariably deal with some aspect 
of the great truth of the everlasting existence of God 
in Holy Trinity. 

saints' days. 

Saints' Days shouU. be celebrated by services and ser- 
mons or addresses. In cities and large towns there is 
no excuse for, or reason for, omitting this custom of the 



MODES OF ADMINISTERING. 561 

Church, evidently designed by her to be continued, 
because of her appointment of special Ante Commu- 
nion services for Saints' Days. In country places it is 
difficult if not impossible to assemble the people • and 
it would be unwise to force the custom. Sermons 
commemorating the lives and characters of the Saints 
are valuable. The example of each may profitably be 
followed in some particular line of grace or virtue or 
activity. When such sermons are not preached on the 
day, it will be well to occupy the Sunday nearest with 
this theme. 

THANKSGIVING DAY. 

The Church is to be opened for Divine Worship in- 
variably, and a sermon preached. No united services 
are admissible unless they are held in our Churches ; 
for the rule is imperative that each of our Churches 
shall be opened. The services are to be conducted 
according to our own forms : and by our own Minis- 
ters. The point is this, that our people shall not lose 
the privilege of enjoying their own services in their 
own Houses of prayer on this occasion. 

VISITATION. 

At the Visitation of the Bishop the services are sub- 
mitted to his direction. Under the Canon he may if 
he pleases administer the Holy Communion. If he 
does so, the offertory on that occasion is at his disposal. 

Modes of administering. 

Ordinary Services. — Lessons and Psalms are not dis- 
cretionary except on days of civil or ecclesiastical Fast 
or Thanksgiving, and on occasion of conventions, and 



562 PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 

charitable collections. In emergencies a Presbyter may- 
exercise discretion, or assume the responsibility, but it 
is best, if there be time for it, to consult his Bishop, 
throwing the responsibility on him, where it belongs. 

The Ante Communion office is obligatory, and to be 
used on every clay for which a Collect, Epistle, and 
Gospel are appointed. Bishop Mcllvaine presses this 
rule very strongly in one of his convention addresses. 

The place for special prayers and thanksgivings is 
before the general thanksgiving. 

Special Services, — Special Psalms and Lessons are 
not discretionary on any day for which the Church has 
specially arranged them. The General Convention has 
expressed the opinion that a Presbyter may use a large 
liberty in separating the three services — namely, Public 
Prayer, The Litany, and the Ante Communion. Origi- 
nally they were distinct offices : and the custom of 
uniting them has unwisely become common. In small 
towns and country places these separate services cannot 
now be held at separate hours; and all are too valuable 
to be entirely omitted. But in cities and large towns, 
they may be held at different hours of the day. It is 
understood by the General Convention that all portions 
are to be used on Sundays, although it may be at dif- 
ferent hours. 

Missionaries, who serve two or three churches on a 
Sunday, may well adopt the following plan. In the 
morning, use Morning prayer and Sermon. In the after- 
noon, use the Litany and Ante Communion with Sermon. 
In the evening, use a short form of Evening prayer, or 
vary this method by exchanging that which is named 
for the evening with the afternoon, and vice versa. 



MODES OF ADMINISTERING. 563 

The short form of Evening prayer authorized in 
Ohio and in some other Dioceses is as follows. (It 
would be lawful wherever it should be authorized by 
the Ordinary.) The Sentences as usual. In the Ex- 
hortation, after the words, " Dearly Beloved," pass to 
the last sentence, namely, " I pray and beseech you, 
etc." The remainder as usual, except that one of the 
Canticles may be read instead of the Psalter. One 
Lesson is read instead of both. The Creed and 
Prayers are used : or instead of the usual prayers, 
the following order may be followed ; namely, the 
Collect for the day, the Collect for aid against perils, 
the prayer for the Church Militant, and a closing Col- 
lect, with the lesser Benediction. 

Administering Baptisms, 

Infant Baptism. — Previous information is to be given 
to the Minister : and the necessary items communicated. 
Three Sponsors are required. The parents may be 
Sponsors. Sponsors ought to be Communicants : must 
be baptized. Baptism is to be in public, except on an 
emergency : and when in public is always to follow 
the second lesson of morning or evening prayer. The 
rubric is imperative, and the reason is obvious. For 
the child is to be admitted into the Church : and how 
can it be unless the Church be present ? When Bap- 
tism is administered in private, it is to be subsequently 
publicly acknowledged in the church with the proper 
form, and the assumption of Sponsorship. Responses 
should be audibly made. The pouring of water should 
not be so profuse as to disturb the child's nerves. Bap- 
tism depends on other things than the amount of water 



564 PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATIONS. 

employed. Water is to be poured into the Font at the 
time of Baptism. Because of proper want of careful- 
ness in placing a child on the Minister's arm, there is 
a tradition among us that one of our most valued 
Clergymen baptized a child's feet instead of its head. 
If a Sponsor takes the Infant from the left arm of a 
$urse or friend, and without reversing it, hands it 
directly to the Minister, and lays it upon his left arm, 
it will lie upon his arm in precisely the same position 
which it occupied on the nurse's arm. All difficulties 
arise from unskilful and unnecessary attempts to re- 
verse the position of the Infant. Much handling of 
a child and passing it from one to another, is sure to 
disturb it, and naturally leads to its crying. 

A child who is not an infant, can seldom be held in 
the Minister's arms. If old enough it should be taught 
to kneel to receive this Holy Sacrament. 

Adult Baptism, — Previous information and exami- 
nation must be had. A witness or two witnesses must 
be present. It is always to be in public. The responses 
should be full and audible. The position and dress of 
the Candidate should be such as will not attract atten- 
tion. At Baptism the Candidate kneels to receive the 
Sacrament; and then the Minister gives him the right 
hand of fellowship. Immersion should be practised 
when desired. It will be observed that the Rubric 
does not contemplate private Adult baptism. It is 
inadmissible except on a death-bed, or when the 
person is disabled : and for this the Rubric specially 
provides. 

Confirmation. — Before the administration a full list 
is to be prepared. Full names are to be given, indi- 



MODES OF ADMINISTERING. 565 

eating sex. In several Dioceses, these lists are pre- 
sented to the Bishop with a formula which indicates 
that the responsibility of presenting the Candidates 
belongs to the Minister, not to the Bishop. Dress 
should be plain. The hair should be so arranged as 
not to interfere with the act of laving on of hands. 
No veil should interpose. The use of oil or pomatum 
on the hair of the Candidate is disagreeable to a 
Bishop : for after touching it his hands cannot retain 
their cleanliness. The Candidates should bring their 
Prayer Books to the chancel, and respond audibly. 
They should stand before the rail until the Bishop 
directs them to kneel. They stand during his address 
to them : and kneel at the Laying on of hands, and at 
the Benediction. 

The Holy Communion. — The preparation of the Table 
should be made by the Wardens or by their authority. 
The Bread mav be marked and cut into slices ; but 
should not be broken into pieces until the Minister 
does it as ordered by the rubric. It should be bread, 
not cakes. It is to be broken : and the pieces should 
be large enough to permit of its being eaten as re- 
quired by the rubric. Wine, not brandy nor cider, 
should be used. Enough of it should be prepared, 
for it is required by the rubric to be drank. A pure 
white linen cloth below T the elements is required. A 
clean napkin should be used to cover them. The 
rubric says " break," but does not say handle the bread. 
The Minister's hands should be clean. Administer to 
several persons during one recital of the phrases. The 
Communicant's position should be reverential, and the 
elements should be received without gloves. The 

48 



566 PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 

rubric directs that the elements should be placed in 
the hands. The Cup is not to be held to the lips of 
the recipient, for the rubric expressly directs that the 
Cup, like the Bread, shall be delivered "into their 
hands." In approaching and leaving the table let 
haste and confusion be prevented, by a prearrange- 
ment. When Communicants are seated in two aisles, 
let them approach from the aisles alternately. When 
they are seated in three aisles, let the centre aisle alter- 
nate with the two side aisles. Any arrangement is 
better than none, so that confusion be avoided. 

The elements are not to be carried about. The 
Church is as particular in her laws on this point, as in 
implying that the Font shall be emptied after Baptism. 
Neither elements, bread, wine nor water, are to be put 
to a superstitious use after being consecrated. As the 
Font must be emptied, otherwise the rubric could not 
be complied with on the next occasion — " the Font 
shall then be filled with pure water ;" so the consecrated 
Bread and Wine must be reverently eaten and drank 
before the Communicants leave the church. 

Private Communion. — The ordinary service is cur- 
tailed : but it is not to be shortened more than the 
rubric allows, because the Holy Communion is not to 
be considered as a Viaticum, and is not to be admin- 
istered except when the person is able to appreciate 
and bear the strain of it; having full consciousness. 
Usually not many are to be present : but, except in 
cases of contagious disease, the Church requires that 
three shall be present. It is important to observe that 
the. sick person is to receive last of all : the reason is 
obvious. 



PARISH REGISTER. 567 

Marriage, 
The position of parties is, the Bride on your right. 
The hands are to be free of gloves. The parties should 
be instructed beforehand to provide a Ring. After 
their approach to the chancel, a pause is to be avoided. 
When the marriage takes place in Church, they should 
kneel on approaching the chancel and at the appointed 
prayers. The responses should be guided by the Min- 
ister : he is to lead audibly in the parts which are to be 
recited after him. The giving away is a significant act 
and should not be omitted. The bride is given to the 
Church, implying the sacredness of the Covenant ; and 
by the Minister is given in Christ's name to the Groom. 
At the Benediction, kneeling is the proper posture of 
the parties. A full record should be kept : and the 
Certificate is always to be given to the Bride. 

Burials, 

Conform to the customs of the place. When an 
address occurs, it should follow the lesson. The Coffin 
ought to be closed before the final part of the service. 
Part of the service may be used in the church, or the 
house : but the committal when possible should be used 
at the grave. Earth is to be thrown on the coffin ; not 
on the box or the lid which covers it from sight. 

Records. 
The Parish Register is an important legal document. 
The most complete one which I have ever seen was pre- 
pared by Rev. James Bonnar. The most convenient 
one was prepared by the Rev. Dr. Washburn, of Grace 
Church, Cleveland. 



568 PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION. 

In baptisms. — The Christian names of the Candidate 
and of the Father and Mother as well as their surname 
should be recorded. The names of sponsors or wit- 
nesses should be recorded ; also the Candidate's age : 
with the date and other items of interest. 

In Confirmation. — Let the whole baptismal name be 
recorded. 

As to Communicants. — Keep an accurate Register of 
the full name and of the time of entrance and depart- 
ure. Never erase a name unless the person has died, or 
been formally transferred. 

As to Marriages. — The identification of the parties 
is the important matter: and therefore the Record 
should have the full names of both, and either the 
name of the Bride's father or the residence of both 
parties. Property has been lost by want of care in 
making the Parish registration of marriages. 

As to Burials. — Identification is the important point. 
The full name, the place of residence, and the age are 
to be given. The transmission of property is often 
dependent on the correctness of this record. 

A list of Families should be kept by every Pastor. 

A Register of services and of sermons and addresses 
forms an interesting document, and is valuable. 

A Register of the Communion collections, and of the 
disposal of them, is important, lest some question should 
arise which might affect a Pastor's character for cor- 
rectness. 

A Register of the ordinary charitable collections 
should be kept, on the report of the Wardens who have 
them in charge; that both Rector and Congregation 
may become acquainted with the charities of the Parish. 



DISCIPLINE. 



48* 569 



PART THIRD. 



DISCIPLINE : 

CAUSES, 

MODES, 

PENALTIES. 



570 



DISCIPLINE. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 

The subject of the Discipline of the Laity has been 
left at loose ends by our ecclesiastical legislators. One 
or two rubrics, which can hardly be supposed to exert 
more power over the Laity than they do over the Clergy, 
and a meagre Canon or two, form the whole body of 
laws on which our Clergy are to depend, in dealing 
with communicants who need the discipline of the 
Church. The House of Deputies in the General Con- 
vention is disinclined to enact laws on the subject. 
The Bishops sometimes propose laws, as they did in 
1877 ; but they are usually returned, without the sanc- 
tion of the Clerical and Lay Delegates. 

A Pastor is therefore left to the force of his moral 
influence. Perhaps it is best, under the peculiar con- 
ditions of religious life in this country and in these 
times, that a Minister shall be debarred from appealing 
to statutes, and compelled to use only the rule of reason 
and the fetters of love. A Minister is thrown upon 
his discretion, judgment, tact, and character ; his moral 
influence. Beyond these, except when a very flagrant 
case arises, which unmistakably offends the moral sense 
of the Church community, there is a very small measure 

571 



572 DISCIPLINE 

of law, and of penalty, which he can employ to keep 
the Church from suffering grievous hurt. 

I have little to do, therefore, except, in outline, to 
state the Causes which may lead to discipline ; the Modes 
of procedure ; and the Punishment, for faults proven. 

But let me give a caution. A young Minister's first 
duty on entering a parish is not the exercise of discipline. 
It is not his primary obligation or function to discover 
all the evils and errors existing ; or when discovered 
to bring them into light. Possibly his predecessor may 
with a reason have left them buried. Perhaps an older 
or a more experienced head than his would still suffer 
them to remain unnoticed. At least he may safely wait 
until he has learned some of the reasons which actuated 
his predecessor's conduct, and gained some little experi- 
ence in the methods of dealing w T ith men, before he opens 
the Pandora box of Parish scandals. 

Some evils in a parish cannot be remedied. A Clergy- 
man does not immediately discern that exceedingly un- 
satisfactory impossibility. A young man who should 
endeavor to destroy a whole brood of serpents at one 
blow, by removing the stone that covers them, and re- 
vealing the unclean nest, in order to attack it, w T ould 
very likely be poisoned for his pains, and would cer- 
tainly fail of success. We come reluctantly to the con- 
clusion that some evils in the Church are irremediable. 
But when we arrive at that conclusion, then we see that 
it is abundantly illustrated in the Divine government 
of men in all departments; and that our Saviour pre- 
pared us for it by declaring that wheat and tares are to 
grow together, until He shall send forth His Angels, 
at the end of the world, to separate the two. 



causes. 573 

Besides the" cannot," there is an "ought not." Some 
evils ought not to be touched. It may be possible to 
remove them, but if the process will certainly produce 
more evil than good, a wise man will let them alone. 
There are noxious poisons which are confined to a lim- 
ited locality. We may well desire to destroy them. 
But if the disturbance will extend their influence, and 
involve a larger circle in the area of death, certainly we 
will pause before we stir them ; probably upon reflec- 
tion will leave them undisturbed to act within their nar- 
row sphere. But some evils are remediable ; and when 
we have decided that the remedy is within our power, 
we are bound to approach them and apply it, regardless 
of the consequences to ourselves. Of these, I am to 
write. 

Discipline is to be approached cautiously. A wise 
Pastor does not venture on such a step until he is sure 
that he is right. For having entered on that road he 
is never to turn back ; until either the offender has 
become penitent, or the Church has been purged of the 
wrong-doer. And when a Pastor has undertaken this 
disagreeable task conscientiously, the Communicants of 
his Parish, and especially the Vestry, are inexcusable 
if they withhold from him their moral support. 

Causes. 

The causes for discipline, may all be included under 
the general term of scandals : and they may be classed 
as those arising from irreligiousness, immoralities, or 
inconsistencies. 

Irreligiousness appears either in speech or habits : and 
in either may give scandal to godly people. Careless 



574 DISCIPLINE. 

words about our God, or the obligations of religion ; or 
habits which show indifference to religious observances : 
may create a scandal. 

Immoralities, still more readily become scandalous : 
such are, Disorderly conduct or Intemperance. Pro- 
fanity, and that even in small degrees. Sabbath break- 
ing, a misuse of the Sabbath. Dishonesty ; fraud, or 
suspicion of it. Uncharitableness ; in speech or deed. 

Inconsistencies. These embrace a large class. We 
have treated many of them under the topic of " temp- 
tations to return to the world or worldly habits/' As 
the measure of inconsistency must necessarily be deter- 
mined by the Pastor's teaching, it becomes him to fix 
his own standard of consistency, and that of his family, 
firmly and sufficiently high. 

All these create, or may create, what the Rubric 
calls scandal. The term is indefinite, and the mode of 
determining it in any case, is very indefinite. A Min- 
ister will find his judgment much exercised in deciding 
what, and when, offences against propriety really be- 
come scandal. No positive rule can be given. That, 
however, is undoubtedly a scandal which not only 
offends a Minister's sense of propriety, but offends the 
religious sense and the moral sense of the influential 
part of his people; reckoning as influential those who 
have a reputation for piety, good judgment, consider- 
ateness, and charity. 

Undue absence from the Holy Communion is an act 
of irreligiousness. Inasmuch as it is an act, and there 
can be no question about its reality, the Church rightly 
calls your attention to it. In the Diocese of Ohio, and 
(it is believed) in several Dioceses, absence from the 



MODES OF PROCEDURE. 575 

Communion for one year is a sufficient cause of suspen- 
sion, unless satisfactorily explained and excused. 

Unscriptural Divorce is an immorality. It is only 
necessary to call your attention to the Scripture rule on 
this subject, and the Canon founded on it. The law 
of Christ is this : a husband and wife lawfully married 
become one flesh. No power on earth can rightly sep- 
arate those whom God has thus made one. An adul- 
terous offence against this sacred union is the most 
cruel and blackest of crimes. And a divorce for any 
cause, except adultery, violates this divinely created 
bond and therefore is of the same quality as adultery 
itself. If either party marries again whilst the other 
party remains unmarried, the marriage becomes actual 
adultery in that party. 

Modes of Procedure. 

Private admonition. — Admonition may be given pri- 
vately more accurately and more gently than in any 
other way ; and especially if it be done by a letter. I 
recommend this course. Verbal communication par- 
takes very much of the nature of explanations and 
answered inquiries : and can scarcely ever appear to be 
an act of discipline. A formal letter readily assumes 
the character of discipline. One of my early recollec- 
tions of St. Andrew's Church, Philadelphia, is that I 
was sent, one Sunday morning, by my Father with a 
letter, which I overheard him say was intended to warn 
a person not to approach the Lord's Table. If it struck 
as much fear into the offender's heart, as it did in mine, 
the bearer of a missive containing unknown terrors, it 
was certainly most wholesome medicine for the soul. 



576 DISCIPLINE. 

Admonition before a Witness. — This is a still more 
serious form of admonition. The witness should be a 
"Warden, or some influential layman among your Com- 
municants; one in whose discretion, as well as reticence, 
you can confide. Admonition before a witness had 
best be in writing carefully prepared. It is better to 
put in written words what it may be necessary to say, 
rather than to trust to the excitement of the moment 
to suggest the fitting words for so grave a duty. 

Examination of Witnesses. — When a case is compli- 
cated, or when you cannot decide its merits by simply 
conversing with the offender, you may need witnesses 
and testimony. If it is really complicated or serious, 
or likely to involve others, it will be advisable to take 
to your help a sound, judicious Christian Lawyer, who 
is accustomed to sift evidence. A Clergyman depend- 
ing on his own judgment will soon become perplexed, 
and it may be embarrassed, in the presence of conflict- 
ing statements. Solomon's celebrated judgment was 
not that of a legal mind ; it was rather a clerical cut- 
ting of a knot which he could not untie. A Minister 
should not expose himself to the danger of being not 
able to give a wise decision. Let your lay advisers 
get into and get out of the difficulties caused by con- 
flicting testimony. They are used to it, and understand 
it. Wait patiently until they shall have solved the 
perplexities. Give no decision until you see light from 
amidst the darkness ; a darkness which possibly they 
may have created, but which also their critical habits 
and legal skill will have enabled them at last to 
dispel. 

Cautions. — A Minister is to be careful not to run 



MODES OF PROCEDURE. 577 

after evidence ; and never to involve himself unneces- 
sarily in a case of discipline. Discipline is to be 
avoided ; not sought after. However much a man 
may love the exercise of authority, he can never desire 
to exhibit his authority in depriving a soul of spiritual 
privileges. If it should happen, that, for any cause, 
the person offending shall have become specially ob- 
noxious to the Pastor, he will on that account the more 
studiously stand aloof from discipline. In such a case, 
his act of discipline must not only appear to be, but 
must really be, forced upon him reluctant. 

Further cautions respect the Pastor in his judicial 
character. Inasmuch as he is to be a Judge, he must 
keep himself entirely free from acting as if he were a 
Grand Jury soliciting evidence, and from whatever may 
bear the least appearance of prejudging the case. 

Gossip and Rumor are not evidence. The Pastor 
cannot act on the testimony of mere gossiping talk, nor 
even on a tolerably defined rumor. A rumor may 
reach such a stage as that he will be bound to mention 
it to the person concerned : and that not only for the 
Church's sake, but for the sake of the person. But it 
is a delicate business : and unless the Pastor even then 
is aware of some fact, or is possessed of some statement 
in detail to back him, he may find that he has unex- 
pectedly put himself in the position of a gossip. Gen- 
erally, a Pastor should wait until gossip has begun to 
relate facts, and rumor has begun to deal with dates 
and names and circumstances : then, with facts, dates, 
and names, he may be prepared to begin an incjuiry. 

Another essential factor in every case is the witness 
on whose testimony a proof depends. Many a gossip 
z 49 



578 DISCIPLINE. 

will be quite ready to start a Pastor off on an unpleasant 
hunt, if only he will be willing to accept that position. 
The Pastor should be careful not to pull chestnuts off 
the fire for any too cautious witness. The caution is 
suspicious. If a deep interest in the Church's honor 
or welfare be felt, the witness will not withhold the 
truth because of the prospect of a trial, nor hesitate to 
take a public share in the responsibility of it. 

When a whisperer begins to tell a tale of a neigh- 
bor's sad misdeeds, stop him right there. Say quietly 
but firmly, " Stop for a moment. Remember that I 
am a Judge. If your tale implies that a neighbor has 
committed a misdeed, I must inquire into the truth of 
it. You are to be the witness. And the inquiry will, 
therefore, lead to one or the other of two consequences. 
Either I shall discipline your neighbor for the fault 
which you disclose to me ; or I shall discipline you for 
making a charge against him which you are unable to 
prove." More than once, such a reminder has put a 
sudden end to an " o'er true tale," " very sad," and 
"pity 'tis, 'tis true." But I was thereby spared the 
hearing of it. The greatest difficulty in exercising 
discipline lies at this point ; the difficulty of obtaining 
competent witnesses: for a Pastor has no right to 
compel testimony, nor can he administer an oath to 
determine the accuracy and truthfulness of testimony. 

Penalties. 

The only punishment known to our law is suspension 
from the privileges of the Holy Communion. No such 
penalty exists as a Pastoral Excommunication. A sus- 
pension may be declared to be for a fixed time; or 



PENALTIES. 579 

indefinitely, until the offence shall have been repented 
of. Every act of suspension is to be immediately re- 
ported to the Bishop ; with a record of such circum- 
stances as may enable him to judge of its propriety. 
The suspension is not to be recorded on the Parish 
Register until it has been reported ; nor until oppor- 
tunity has been given for an appeal to the Ordinary. 

In all cases appeal may be taken to the Bishop. If 
the appeal is sustained, the Communicant is thereby 
restored : and no record is to be made on the Register. 
If the appeal is not sustained, the sentence is thereby 
confirmed, and is to be recorded. 

Repentance, restitution for wrong doing, and amend- 
ment of life are proper grounds for restoring an 
offender. The act of restoring to Church privileges 
remains within the province of the Pastor, unless an 
appeal has been taken. All acts of restoration should 
also be reported to the Ordinary. 



MANNERS MAKETH MAN. 



49* 581 



" The servant of the Lord must ... be gentle unto 
all men."— 2 Tim. ii. 24. 



582 



THE PASTOR A GENTLEMAN 



"manners maketh man." 

Wise William of Wyckeham emphasized a great 
truth when he placed this alliterative proverb over the 
gateway of his hospital at Winchester. 

No doubt he intended to give a wide sweep to the 
meaning of " Manners" : a wider meaning than it has 
in our present habits of speech. But in its narrower 
intention it suits my purpose. For a Pastor should be 
in the first place a gentleman : a man of gentle-manners. 
The nearer his religious character approaches the per- 
fect model left by our Lord, the more truly will his 
whole bearing be gentlemanly. For this quality is not 
the result of culture only. It is somewhat a natural gift; 
sometimes an inheritance : in some respects it is the 
result of education ; but chiefly it is a grace. For the 
truest gentlemanliness is the combined result of " love, 
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek- 
ness, and temperance." Of the nine graces which form 
a Christian's character, the only one which does not 
seem absolutely embodied in gentle-manners is joy. 
Of all the other eight it is the embodiment and expres- 
sion. And yet joy is the atmosphere which must 
surround a perfect gentleman : because the absolute 

583 



584 THE PASTOR A GENTLEMAN. 

perfection of gentle-manners is found only in the per- 
fect Christian. 

The secret of this character is constant considerate- 
ness. And this is its best definition. A gentleman is 
always and thoroughly considerate of the needs, wishes, 
and circumstances of those who are about him : and he 
acts accordingly. This habit of consideration enables 
him to say the right thing at the right time, to do the 
right thing in the right place, to be helpful at the right 
moment, and to be always polite without intrusiveness. 
Ordinary good manners as taught by the professors of 
" deportment" lie on the surface : and are not seldom 
ruffled or lost when the selfishness of an ill-regulated 
nature rouses the opposition of a selfishness, which is, not 
controlled by principle but, only hidden by " politesse." 
Christian unselfishness, guided by the charity of the 
Gospel, possessing a peace which is permanent, long 
suffering because it is not only good but meek, willing 
to confide in those who profess friendship, and withal 
temperate in all expressions of human kindness or de- 
votion, produces gentle-manners which can never be 
reproved. 

The Pastor should be such a gentleman. In dealing 
with the poor he will not offend their sensitiveness. In 
meeting the depraved and sinful he will not forget to em- 
ulate the compassion which, while infinitely pure, could 
pity and save the lost. In casual company, he will con- 
sider the character and circumstances of his companions, 
before venturing remarks which might hurt or displease 
unnecessarily. In the sick room, he will be especially 
gentle to the infirmities of shattered health, and inter- 
pret even fretfulness and impatience by the sensitiveness 



COX SID ERA TENESS. 58 5 

of diseased nerves. In the pulpit he will teach without 
arrogance, reprove without harshness, rebuke without 
anger. His allusions to personal faults, and sins of 
persons, will be impersonal : and so tempered that the 
apostle's exhortation will appear to be ever in his 
thoughts " considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted" 



This considerateness will show itself in minor mat- 
ters. It will govern that most annoying of all moments 
in a Pastor's life, when a visitor interrupts him in the 
midst of some favorite study, or in the very glow and 
heat of composition. He will consider the cause and 
need of interruption before he relieves himself of it: 
and the relief will be effected so gently that the visitor 
will praise himself for his considerateness. 

It will govern the length of his sermons, the manner 
in which he conducts services, the frequency of them, 
the peculiarities of his fancy in administering ordinances 
and sacraments. A gentleman will not offend his peo- 
ple by introducing novelties in worship to which they 
are opposed. A gentleman will not attempt to force 
on his people his own idiosyncrasies. Considerateness 
of their feelings will forbid. Good manners will often 
prevent unseemly differences between a Pastor and his 
People ; for in most cases they arise, not so much from 
devotion to principle, as from the determination of sel- 
fishness to carry a point, regardless of the w T ishes of 
those whose preferences ought to be considered. And 
the instincts of a gentleman will lead a Pastor to yield 
in every point except principle, when he discovers that 
z* 



586 THE PASTOR A GENTLEMAN. 

ungentle-manners are opposing him. He then retires 
within his own consciousness of right, and hides himself 
there, before "the beginning of strife." 

Consideration for the wishes of his correspondents 
will lead to the habit of replying to all important 
letters, by return of post. If the subjects require delay 
in the formal reply, a Pastor will at least acknowledge 
the receipt immediately, and relieve his correspondent's 
anxiety. The witty saying of Napoleon I., that " most 
letters answer themselves after a week's delay," was 
worthy of an autocrat : but the Emperor was not dis- 
tinguished for his politeness, nor for consideration of 
the feelings or wishes of others. 

A like considerateness will prevent a Pastor from 
running into debt. Cruel is the need, sometimes, and 
cruel, as well as wicked, is the neglect or carelessness 
to pay him promptly what is due. But the wise man 
saith, " the borrower is servant to the lender." While 
then a Minister, for his own sake, will avoid the de- 
pendent condition of being servant to any man (except 
for Christ's cause), he will equally avoid, for his neigh- 
bor's sake, placing him in a condition where he must 
be Master to his Pastor, and must hold the reins of his 
economy. 



I know of no rules for the cultivation of gentle 
manners. In some matters of detail, " Miller's Clerical 
Manners" is a book which it may be judicious for a 
young clergyman to consult. But, I am inclined to 
think, that the only efficient principle of politeness is 



COURTESIES. 587 

a " new birth" by the Holy Spirit, and the only irre- 
provable gentle manners are those that are learned 
by a successful imitation of the constantly considerate 
Christ. 



Courtesies. 



"When a Clergyman enters on a Pastoral charge, it is 
polite for the Wardens and Vestry to call on him im- 
mediately, and also for the leading members of the con- 
gregation to show the same courtesy. If he be married, 
the ladies of the congregation will be equally courteous 
to his wife. If he be a Deacon, he must not expect an 
equal degree of attention, although it ought to be shown. 
But although his people should fail to manifest courtesy, 
a Pastor should not fail in his duty. He should, as 
soon as possible, visit and make himself personally 
known to every member of his charge. 

It would be well for Pastors to hint to Wardens, 
(should they need it) that it is part of good church- 
manners for the Wardens to treat visiting Clergymen 
with special courtesy, those I mean who may be occa- 
sionally supplying the pulpit of their Parish Church ; 
at least they should attend in the vestry room after 
service, and greet these visitors as brethren in Christ. 

Similar courtesy is due (and happily is generally paid) 
to a Bishop on his visitations. 

When a Clergyman enters a city or town to become 
a resident, the Clergy ought, without delay, to call on 
him, whether he be a Presbyter or Deacon. The omis- 
sion of this act of respect cannot be regarded in any 
other light than a discourtesy. A subsequent apology 



588 THE PASTOR A GENTLEMAN. 

for the neglect never heals the wound which this defici- 
ency of gentle manners has inflicted. If the new resi- 
dent be married, the members of clerical families should 
show this courtesy. 

When a Bishop is resident the first call is due to him 
from the incomer : but a Bishop seldom allows an in- 
coming Presbyter to be more diligent than himself in 
offering his greetings. 

Parishioners entering a Parish should always call on 
their Pastor, or at least by card or note (never by mes- 
sage) should announce their new relationship to him. 
But a wise Pastor will never Avait for this exhibition 
of courtesy. As soon as he hears of the arrival of a 
new family within his charge, he will call to greet them. 
In country towns, and villages, it is especially important 
that the Minister shall visit new-comers immediately. 
Nor is he to be restrained by the fact that he may be 
ignorant of their church relationship. Of course if he 
knows that they are not Episcopalians, he will not visit 
them until time has been allowed for their own Minister 
to call on them. But if nothing is known as to their 
church relationships, he may assume that they are as 
likely to belong to his Church as to any, and should act 
accordingly. 

A Minister should be very careful in paying the small 
courtesies, of a morning or evening greeting, to friends 
or neighbors whom he meets. A "good day," the 
touching of the hat, the removal of the hat to those 
who especially deserve it, a kind and pleasant word, 
even to a passing stranger, is never lost. Too great 
familiarity with his people is as much an evil as too 
little. A true gentleman will find the happy mean. 



FEES. 589 

It is not only contrary to our law, but is a violation 
of gentle-manners, for a clergyman to officiate in any 
office within the cure of another, except by the latter's 
request. A gentleman will be especially punctilious in 
observing this rule, in respect to Baptisms, Marriages, 
and Visiting the Sick. Superiority in office does not 
give a right to violate this rule. If a Presbyter may 
interfere with the charges assigned to a Deacon because 
of his superior order, then a Bishop, for a similar 
reason, may be excused for interfering with the special 
cure of any of his Presbyters. But all such interference 
in a Pastor's duties, without the Pastor's request, will be 
felt to be a violation, not only of Canon law but, of 
good breeding. It is advisable that requests from a 
Pastor to another Clergyman to officiate in Baptisms, 
Marriages, or Official visits to any of his parishioners, 
should be in writing. A Clergyman will be wise if he 
declines to act on a verbal message in such a case. 



Fees. 

As to that class of clerical services, for which fees 
are usually given, the rule is, and it should be impera- 
tive, that the fees belong to the Rector of the Parish. 
A Clergyman whom he has invited to officiate for him 
should be satisfied with receiving the compliment. 

Wardens and Vestrymen are sometimes at a loss to 
know when to offer a fee to a Minister who officiates oc- 
casionally for the Parish : and by what rule to measure 
the same. The rule is this, that whenever a Minister 
officiates by their request, he should receive a fee ; and 

50 



590 THE PASTOR A GENTLEMAN. 

it should be the same in amount that they would have 
paid their Pastor for the same service, calculated by the 
ordinary salary. 

As it is the general rule of courtesy of the medical 
profession not to charge Clergymen for medical attend- 
ance, a Clergyman should never receive a fee from his 
medical adviser. It should be arranged that a Phys- 
ician who acts by this generous rule should receive all 
spiritual ministrations of his Pastor as a free gift from 
the Parish. Clergymen whose means are ample, will 
do well to decline such gratuitous services, on the 
ground that the rule was formed when salaries were 
very small, and was intended to supplement insufficient 
salaries. 

The reciprocity of courtesy will be an unfailing guide 
for a Clergyman in deciding this class of questions. 



The Minister should ever bear in mind that he is the 
Ambassador of Christ. He is the representative of the 
Heavenly government. He is, or ought to be, the first 
gentleman in his community. And while his position 
requires untiring watchfulness lest he should dishonor 
it, and the utmost meekness because of his conscious 
unworthiness to represent so holy a Master, he should 
never fail in the courtesies which are characteristic of 
the gentle manners of that Kingdom, which is not of 
this world, and towards which it is his part to draw all 
men. 



A PASTOR'S WIFE. 591 

A Pastor's Wife. 

He that findetli a good wife receiveth a rich blessing 
from the Lord. It is true in the clerical profession, 
above all other professions or businesses of life, that a 
wife makes or mars a Minister's usefulness. Tupper says, 
"Pray for your wife ! she is somewhere." Like a good 
deal of proverbial philosophy, that part which breathes 
the spirit of Holy Scripture is the most valuable. For, 
in so important an action as the choice of a wife, the 
Bible itself has taught us, (as in all things,) to pray for 
this God's gift. A Minister who in this matter allows 
himself to be influenced only by impulse, who does not 
seek guidance from our Father in heaven, and who can- 
not or will not decide under the restraints of discreet 
judgment, deserves little sympathy if his happiness or 
usefulness should be forfeited. 

. So supremely important is this subject that I venture 
this one suggestion. Xeither marry, nor trammel your- 
self with an engagement, until after four or five years of 
experience in the Ministry ; indeed, until after such an 
interval as will enable you reasonably to judge, as to the 
character of work which God's providence intends for 
you. A man who finds himself best fitted to occupy the 
retired walks of Pastoral life, needs a wife suited to the 
sphere in which he moves. He has no right to with- 
draw a companion from society in which brilliant talents 
and high cultivation fit her to shine, and to associate 
her always with those who can fully appreciate neither. 
A good wife will not, indeed, hesitate to accept the 
more retired position : and most admirable is the bravery 
with which many such face the incongruity. ]Sor is 



592 THE PASTOR A GENTLEMAN. 

there a doubt thai the noblest talents, and the highest 

culture, may spend themselves profitably in raising the 
tone of a social circle in the most humble parish. 
But the better work, on the whole, will be done, in such 
a sphere, by a woman whose habits are suited to the so- 
cial condition which surrounds her, and whose elevation 
beyond her neighbors is only such as not to create envy, 
but to be a healthful stimulus. So, a Clergyman, whose 
ministry is to be spent in the larger sphere of city life, 
needs a companion accustomed to the amenities of a 
great community, and is fitted to meet its exigencies, not 
only intellectually, but by ability of leadership. Many 
a Minister's wife who has known nothing in early days 
except a retired country home, has easily transferred its 
refinements and delicacy of feeling to the broader cur- 
rents of society in a city. But, in these cases, a peculiar 
wit and natural capacity have made the most of oppor- 
tunity. On the other hand, many a pure and simple 
heart, forced into such a situation, has found its happi- 
ness wrecked, by the impossibility of conforming to 
new habits a life which was patterned on less artificial 
ideas. Observation in the office of a Bishop affirms, 
without hesitation, that the prospects of Clergymen have 
been often marred by an ill-assorted marriage ; con- 
tracted, whilst in their inexperience, they were neither 
able to judge discreetly as to character or capabilities, 
nor at all able to forecast the future of their own 
position. 

These hints will not come too late for students to 
whom the power of choice is still left. For them we 
repeat our caution — delay your choice until God's provi- 
dence has shown what sort of a wife vou need. 



A PASTOR FOR LIFE. 593 

A Pastor for life. 

I have reserved until the last, this most important 
suggestion, that the Pastoral tie is intended to be indis- 
soluble except by death. Our Canons are based on it. 
It pervades the beautiful office of Institution : an office 
which has gone almost into desuetude, because of our 
modern habits of looking on the Pastoral relation as 
fragile and brief. But whatever may be the fault of 
modern sentiment on this subject, and even if we fail 
in its correction, let us for ourselves appreciate the fact 
that our Lord intended this tie between Pastor and 
People to be permanent ; and let us strive in such 
manner to discharge the sacred duties of the office, that 
it may be unbroken between our People and ourselves, 
until death us do part. All the finer sentiments of this 
relationship, all the deeper and truest intimacies that 
spring out of it, all the holiest sympathies that are 
created by it, depend upon the idea of its permanence. 
Blessed and sacred bond ! within whose gentle attach- 
ments Pastor and People walk side by side through all 
vicissitudes. Mutual respect passes naturally into re- 
gard, regard warms into affection ; and that affection 
takes on so much of the character of the domestic vir- 
tue, that the Parish itself becomes a family, and the 
highest ideal of the Church on earth is realized, for it 
becomes the Household of God. 



50* 



594 THE PASTOR A GENTLEMAN. 



CONCLUSION. 

My most earnest hopes in preparing these pages will 
be satisfied, if the truths they announce, and the experi- 
ences they record, shall be helpful to any Brother in the 
Ministry, or who is approaching it. I have written 
what I needed to have known, but was not taught, be- 
fore I entered the Ministry. Without instruction in 
the details of the Pastoral office, and only possessed 
of a few general principles for guidance, I was left 
to work out the gravest problem of life — a Pastor's 
responsibility. 

Whether this attempt to supply a lack will prove 
helpful, time will show. It is -at least honest, and 
brotherly. In the spirit of humble faith " The Pas- 
tor" is committed to the gracious uses of God the Holy 
Ghost; whilst I pray that the sanction of our chief 
Pastor, the Divine Shepherd of the sheep, may be given 
to this effort to delineate the office which is the noblest 
earthly type of the imitation of Christ. 



APPENDIX. 



VISITING BOOK. 

The best form of Visiting Book is that which arranges the 
names of Families alphabetically, devoting one page to each 
letter of the alphabet. The columns should be ruled so as to 
show the number of visits intended to be made in each year. 
The visits being recorded under each year will show at once how 
well the rule has been observed, and how many visits are still 
due. It is well for a Clergyman to have within daily sight a 
reminder in this duty. The best pocket visiting book which I 
have seen is published by Dutton & Co., of New York. 



Three visits per 
year. 


Address. 


1878. 


1879. 


John Smith. 
Adam Swan. 
Sarah Svvayne. 


200 6th St. 
70 2d Av. 
Sage Ct. 


Spring. 

V 

Y 


Fall. 

Y 
Y 


Winter. 

Y 

enfd Dec. 


Spring. 
Y 

Y 


Fall. 

Y 
Y 


Winter, 
left. 

Y 

Y ■ 



BLANK FORMS. 

A Pastor should be supplied with printed blank forms for 
several purposes ; as follows : 

Baptism. — For obtaining accurate information as to the full 
name, date of birth, names of parents, and sponsors or witnesses 
of one who is to be brought to Baptism. 

Confirmation. — For obtaining the full name of Candidates for 
Confirmation. 

595 



596 



APPENDIX. 



Marriage. — For obtaining the full names of both parties, fc'heh 
ages, the woman's father's name, and the witnesses in a marriage. 
Blank forms of Certificates for Baptism, Confirmation, and Mar- 
riage should be on hand to be given to those who desire them. 
A blank form for Transfer of a Communicant to another Parish 
should be at hand ; and should be given whenever it is known 
that a Communicant is about to remove. By waiting foi the 
Communicant to apply for it, the Clergyman generally loses 
sight of the person ; and it results in his finding his Communion 
list encumbered by names of individuals no longer bona fide 
members of his parish. When a Communicant leaves the parish 
without the Minister's knowledge, it may not seldom be due to 
the laxity of his oversight, and the want of systematic attention 
to the duty of visiting. 

The best series of blank forms which have come to my attention 
are published by J. H. Carne & Co., Detroit, Michigan. 



BOOK OF SEKVICES. 

An interesting and valuable record of his services may Vrvj kept 
by a Clergyman with very little trouble. Let it be arranged on 
two pages which face each other. Thus, on the left hand page : 



Date. 


D. M. 


D.W. 


D. E. Y. 


No. of 

Services. 


No. of 
Sermon. 


Text. 


Subject. 


1879, Dec. 


25 


Th. 


Christm. 


325 


270 


St. L.xi. 13,14. 


Angels' Song. 


On the right hand page : 


Name of Church. 


Place. 


Diocese. 


Extra Ord. or Sacra. 


Remarks. 


St. John's. 


Eversham. 


Non. 


Communion. 


Clear, cold ; full 
church. 70 corns. 



If such a record be kept accurately from the day of one's Or- 
dination, it will furnish a grateful memorial when he shall have 
reached the days at which his vigor will begin to fail. 



THE PASTOR'S PRACTICAL LIBRARY. 597 

VESTRY, PREACHER'S BOOK. 

A record of every one who has preached in St. Andrew's. 
Church, Philadelphia, and his text, has been kept in the Vestry 
room of that church since the day on which it was consecrated. 
The record is signed by the Preacher himself. It forms a Regis- 
ter valuable not only for the facts contained in it, but for the 
autographs of men who in their day have done the Church good 
service, during the last half century. Similar records are kept 
in many Vestry rooms in our churches. They are almost uni- 
versally found in the larger Parishes in England. The practice 
is strongly recommended. In forming the Book a page should 
be devoted to each day of the Ecclesiastical Year ; so that the 
record of each Lord's Day, and -Festival and East shall stand by 
itself, showing the manner of its celebration from year to year. 

THE PASTOR'S PRACTICAL LIBRARY. 

A full supply to be kept on hand for the following purposes : 

Minister's daily hand-books. 

Eor Lay reading. 

Eor Cottage reading. 

For Sunday-School Teachers. 

Family Worship. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church. 

Instructions as to Baptism. 

Instructions as to Confirmation. 

Instructions as to Holy Communion. 

Intelligent Unbelief — Scepticism. 

Ignorance. 

Carelessness. 

Conviction. 

Conversion. 

Christians — to encourage progress. 

Christians — to encourage spirituality. 

Christians — to guide in practical work. 

Christians — to help under temptation. 

Christians — to instruct or comfort under affliction. 

Christians — to strengthen or solace in sickness. 

Backsliding. 

Mistaken Profession. 



598 APPENDIX. 

THE PASTOR'S PEACTICAL LIBRARY. 
Minister's Daily Hand-Books. 

Brown's Scripture Selections. 

Bolles' Vade Mecum. 

Hobart's Manual. 

Manual of Pastoral Visitations. (Parker.) 

Bather's Ministerial Duty. 

Notes on Nursing. (Nightingale.) 

Griswold, Social Prayer Meeting. 

Vaughan's Addresses to the Young Clergy. (Macmillan.) 

Moore, Thoughts on Preaching. 

Ordination Addresses, by the Bishop of Oxford. (Wilberforce.) 

Mcllvaine's Work of Preaching Christ. 

Westcott's Canon of New Testament. (Macmillan.) 

Westcott's Introduction to Study of the Gospel. (Macmillan.) 

Hardwick, Christ and other Masters. (Macmillan.) 

Wayland's Moral Science. 

Wharton's Medical Jurisprudence. 

Hugh Davy Evans on Marriage. (Hurd & Houghton.) 



For Lay Reading. 

The Homilies. 

Bishop Mcllvaine's Select Family and Parish Sermons. 

Norton's Sermons. (Whittaker.) 

Bradley's Sermons. 

The Alton Sermons by Hare. 

Sermons by Rev. Henry Blunt. 

Lewis' Sermons. (W. H. Lewis.) 

Ryle's Brief Addresses. 

Lefroy's Pleadings for the Church. (Rivington.) 

Melville's Sermons. 

Sermons by Rev. Edward Cooper. 

Norton's King's Ferry Boat. {For children.) 



THE PASTOR'S PRACTICAL LIBRARY. 599 

For Cottage Beading. 
Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. 

Cottage Lectures on Pilgrim's Progress. (A. T. S.) 
B hint's History of Christ. 
Blunt's History of Elisha. 
Blunt's History of St. Paul. 
Blunt's History of St. Peter. 
The Dairyman's Daughter. Tract. 
Shepherd of Salisbury Plain. Tract. 
The Lighted Valley. Tract. 

Annals of the Poor, by Leigh Bichmond. Tract, 
Village in the Mountains. Tract. 
Henry and his Bearer. Tract. 
"Watchmaker and his Family. Tract. 
David Baldwin. Tract. 
George Lovell. Tract. 

Little Jane ; or, the Young Cottager. Tract. 
Swiss Peasant, by Caesar Malan. Tract. 
"We must live ; on temj>erance. Tract. 

For Sunday-School Teachers. 
Tyng's Forty Years in Sunday-School. 
Todd's Sabbath-School Teacher. 
Dixon & Smith on Catechism. 
Eleven Months in Horeb. (Randolph.) 
Church in the Wilderness. (Bandolph.) 
Bible Dictionary. (American Sunday-School Union.} 
Moulton's Hist, of English Bible. (Cassell). 
Barnes' Notes. 

American Tract Society, Commentary. 
Cruden's Concordance. (Lippincott.) 
Brown's Concordance. (Small.) 
The Speaker's Commentary. (Scribner.) 
Butler's Bible Reader's Commentary. (Appleton.) 
Scott's Commentary. 

Dean Stanley's History of the Jewish Church. 
Dean Stanley's Palestine. 
Farrar's Life of Christ. 
Howson and Conybeare, Life of St. Paul. 



600 APPENDIX. 

Family Worship. 
Walker's Church in the Family. (Rivington.) 
Wain wright's Family Prayer. 
Oxenden and Ramsden, Family Prayer. 
Bickersteth's Family Prayer. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church. 

Onderdonk and Barnes. 
Clark's Walk about Zion. 
Kipp's Double Witness. 

Garrett's History, Continuity of the Church. (Whittaker.) 
Shirley .'s Church in the Apostolic Age. (Macmillan.) 
Hard wick j Christian Church, Middle Ages. (Macmillan.) 
Hard wick, Christian Church, Reformation. (Macmillan.) 
Bishop White's Memoirs of the Church. 
Shinn's Questions about our Church. (Whittaker.) 
Shanklin, some Objections. (Whittaker.) 
Westcott's Bible in the Church, (historical.) (Macmillan.) 
De Tessier, The House of Prayer, [exposition of the Services.) 
(Macmillan.) 
Yaughan's Liturgy and Worship, (Ch. Eng.) (Macmillan.) 
Chapman's Sermons. 
Wilmer's Manual. 
Hobart's Apology. 

Baptism. 

Sprigg, Baptism of Infants. 
Hall on Baptism. 
Bickersteth on Baptism. 
Slicer on Baptism. 

Confirmation. 

Tyng on Confirmation. 

Mcllvaine on Confirmation. 

Wilson's Manual on Confirmation. 

Shinn's Manual of Confirmation. (Whittaker.) 

Vaughan on Confirmation. (Macmillan.) 

Pay thy Yows, by Bedell. 



THE PASTOR'S PRACTICAL LIBRARY. 601 

Renunciation, by Bedell. 
Dixon and Smith on the Catechism. 
McClear, Catechism. (Macmillan.) 
Ramsey's Catechiser's Manual. (Macmillan.) 
Pastor's Testimony, by J. A. Clark, D.D. 



Holy Communion. 

Hannah More's Private Devotions. 
Tracts on Self-Examination. 
The true Christian, by James. 
The Lord's Supper, by Bickersteth. 
G-ouTburn's Personal Religion. 
Thomas a Kempis. (Lippincott.) 



Intelligent Unbelief — Scepticism. 

Great Question answered by Boardman. 
Importance of Consideration. Tract. 
Philosophy of the plan of Salvation. 
The Christ of History. Divinity of Christ. 
Inspiration of Scripture and its Interpretation, by Bishops 
Browne and Ellicott. (Whittaker.) 
Westcott, Bible in the Church, [historical.) (Macmillan.) 
Credentials of Christianity. (Whittaker,) 
Mason's Divinity of Christ. 
Jones of Nayland. 

Rock of Ages, Bickersteth (introd. Huntington). (Dutton.) 
Butler's Analogy. 
Mcllvaine's Evidences. 
Keith on Prophecy. 
Chalmers' Astronomical Sermons. 
Argyle's Reign of Law. 
McCosh on Divine Government. 
Theology of Invention. 
Dick's Philosophy of a future state. 
Principalities and Powers. 

Popular Objections to Revealed Faith. (Randolph.) 
Birk's Difficulties of Belief. (Macmillan.) 
2a 51 



602 APPENDIX. 



Ignorance. 

Startling Questions, by Kyle. Tract. 
Come to Jesus. Tract. 
The Great Change. 
Mercien's Natural Goodness. 
Pike's Persuasives to early piety. 



Carelessness. 

Living or Dead, by Kyle. Tract. 
Wheat and Chaff, by Kyle. Tract. 
Do you want a Friend ? Tract. 
Come and Welcome. Tract. 
Awake, thou Sleeper, by Clarke. 
Morrell's Seven Counsels. Tract. 



Conviction. 

Anxious Inquirer. (Palmer.) 

Counsels for the Awakened. Tract. 

Kight Choice. Tract. 

Way of Salvation made plain, by Bickersteth. 

The Wedding Garment. Tract. 

Inquirer directed. Tract. 



Conversion. 

The Great Change. 

Advice to Young Converts. 

Manly Piety. 

The True Christian, by James. 

Preciousness of Christ. 

Precious things of God. 

Christ on the Cross, by Stevenson. 



THE PASTOR'S PRACTICAL LIBRARY. 603 

Christians — to encourage progress. 

Townsend's Bible. 
"Waymarks, by Dr. Bedell. 
Hannah More's Practical Piety. 
Guide to the Young. 
Christian Youth's Book, by Brownlee. 
Christian Duty, by James. 
Pike's Guide to Young Disciples. 
Advice to a Young Christian. 
Bickersteth on Prayer. 
Christ our Example. 
Fellowship with Christ. 
Bighteousness by Faith, by Mcllvaine. 
Goulburn's Personal Keligion. (Kivington.) 
Interior Life, by Upham. 
The Divine Life, by Craik. (Dutton.) 
Memoirs published by E. K. S. 
Goode's Better Covenant. 

'Memoir of Bev. Dr. Gregory Townsend Bedell. 
Memoir of Susan Allibone. (Lippincott.) 
Memoir of Miss Newton. 
Memoir of Leigh Bichmond. 
Memoir of Wilberforce. 
Memoir of Captain Hedley Yicars. 

Christians — to encourage spirituality. 

Questions and Counsels. Tract. 
Instructions for Self-Examination. Tract. 
The Preciousness of Christ. 
Meditations on Prayer, by Hugh White. 
Phillips > Love of the Spirit. 
The Tongue of Fire. 
Gethsemane and Calvary. 
Lessons at the Cross. 
Christ our Example, by Stevenson. 
Buchanan on the, Holy Spirit. 
Gurney's Love to God. 
Flavel on Keeping the heart. 



604 APPENDIX. 

Christian Retirement. 

Memoir of Payson. 

The Christian's Secret of a happy life. 

G-oulburn's Pursuit of Holiness. (Rivington.) 

G-oulburn's Holy Catholic Church. (Rivington.) 

Upham's Life of Faith. 

Private Prayer, Ven. Alwyne Compton. (Whitaker, Lond.) 

Gurnall's Christian Armor. 

Leighton's "Works. 

Praise of the Holy Spirit, by Scribner. Randoloh.) 



Christians — to guide in practical work. 

Little Things in my life. (E. K. S.) 

Systematic Charity. Tract. 

Abbott's Way to do good. 

Christian Duty, by James. 

English Hearts and Hands. (Carter.) 

Missing Link. (Carter.) 

Haste to the Rescue. (Carter.) 

Ragged Homes. (Carter.) 

Women Helpers in the Church. (Lippincott.) 

Memoirs of Martyn. (E. K. S.) 

Memoirs of Brainard. (E. K. S.) 

Memoirs of Howard. (E. K. S.) 

Memoirs of Hoffman. (E. K. S.) 

Memoirs of Bishop Patteson. 

Memoir of Catharine Tait. (Macmillan.) 



Christians — to help under temptation. 

Doubting encouraged. Tract. 

Do I grow in grace ? Tract. 

Joy and Peace in believing. 

Contest and Armor, by Abercrombie. 

Man of Faith. 

The Lord our Shepherd, by Stevenson. 

Perfect Love, by Stevenson. 



THE PASTOR'S PRACTICAL LIBRARY. 605 



Christians — to instruct or comfort in affliction. 

Buchanan on Affliction. 

Christian Consolation, by Kev. Dr. Alexander. 

Gray's Eecognition of Friends. (Whittaker.) 

Thoughts of Peace. 

Bonar's Night of Weeping. 

It is well, by Bedell. 

It is I, by Hall. 

The Mount of Olives. 

Family of Bethany. 

Early Lost, Early Saved. 

The Keflner. 

Sympathy for Mourners. 

The Awakening. 

Heaven ; or, the Sainted Dead. 

Baxter's Saints' Best. 

Christians — to strengthen or solace in sickness. 

Sickness, its Trials and its Blessings. 
Songs in the Night. 
Morning and Night Watches. 
The Heavenly Home. 

Backsliding. 

Winslow on Declension and Kevival of Keligion. 
Hodge's Way of Life. 

Mistaken Profession. 

Startling Questions. Tract. 
Living or Dead. Tract. 
Have You ? Tract. 
Wilberforce's Practical View. 



51* 



THE SCHEME AND INDEX. 



A Pastor's work lies in the three Departments of— 

I. INSTRUCTION, p. 55. II. ADMINISTRATION, p. 383. III. DISCIPLINE, 

p. 560. 



Public Instruc- . 
tion is by 



Social Instruc- 
tion is by 



606 



Preaching, p. 203, 
which is treated 
as to its 



Cottage Lectures, 
p. 375. 

Bible Classes, p. 377. 

Teachers' Meetings, 
p. 378. 

Prai) er Circles, 
■ p!379. 



I. INSTRUCTION is either Public, or 
Social. 

' Catechising, p. 57, . 
which is treated 
as to its 



Confirmation^ p.102, 
which is treated 
as to its 



Definition 57 

History 57 

Value 62 

Duty 74 

Subject 76 

Methods 90 

History 109 

Authority 117 

Intention 126 

Candidates 131 

Qualifications 140 

Benefits 144 

Intellectual Preparation 150 

Spiritual Preparation 154 

^Subsequent Instruction 170 

Definition 203 

History 204 

Right Estimate 210 

Danger of depreciating 219 

Object 225 

Method 227 

/Positively 237 

\ Negatively 251 

Power 261 

Matter 270 

Style 277 

Manner 297 

Expository 316 

Topical 317 

Illustrative 317 

Doctrinal 319 

Experimental.... 324 

Practical 324 

Scriptural 327 

Decided 332 

Proportionate ... 333 
Discriminating.. 334 
Individualizing. 335 

Texts 337 

Preparations 354 



Subject. 



Species.. 



Characteristics. 



THE SCHEME AND INDEX. 



607 



THE SCHEME AND INDEX.— {Continued.) 



II. ADMINISTRATION is either 
Pastoral or Parochial. 

'Sacraments, p. 388. 



Visiting, which is 
treated as to its 



Pastoral Admin- 
istration is in 



Treatment of vary- 
ing cases. 



Direction of activi- 
ties, which is 
treated as to its 



Parochial Admin- 
istration refers - 
to 



Relations to 



Duties as to 



Modes, to the 



The Sunday-School, 
which is treated 
as to its 



III. DISCIPLINE f 2?"f cs » P- 573 - 

is treated as to J #**» of procedure, P- «&■ 

[Penalties, p. 578. 



PAGE 

f Definition 389 

Duty 391 

Advantages to the {gj£— | 396 
Difficulties 400 

f Whole 406 

J Sick 410 

1 Afflicted 430 

[Troubled 432 

The Ignorant 441 

Careless 443 

Self-Righteous 445 

Sceptical 448 

Awakened 455 

Convicted 457 

Outsetting 461 

Professing Christian 465 

Maturing Christian 468 

Progressing Christian 469 

Tempted Christian.. 470 

Afflicted Christian 473 

Christian in sickness 475 

Christian in insanity 475 

The Backslider 482 

The Mistaken Professor 483 

The Pastor's. relation 489 

The Pastor's responsibility 489 

TVarhprs J Their Qualifications 494 

leacners. | Their Preparations 496 

Departments 502 

Objects 503 

Means 506 

Methods 508 

Helps 513 

'Definition 517 

History 517 

Lay Element 522 

Departments 524 

Methods 525 

'Vestry 537 

Wardens 543 

Organist 543 

Persons. -{ Choir 544 

Sexton 546 

Active Helpers 547 

Poor 547 

' Church Building 548 

Parsonage 549 

Property, -j Grave Yard 550 

Funds 550 

Collections 550 

("Public Prayers 555 

^Offices of religion 563 

(Preaching...., 563 



«s 



m 




